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THE 



Zr^tt^tin ^( ^^^ Se«« ; 



SORROW ON THE OCEAN, LAKE, 
AND RIVER, 



SHIPWRECK, PLAGUE, FIRE, AND FAMINE. 



^^-^'^^-^^ *^*- 




Her signal °fun boomed o'er the wave, 
When midnight veiled Comnna's bay 3 

For help the hapless crew to save, 

He coursed the strand at dawn of day." 

Don Alvauez, 



BY CHARLES ELLMS. 



^Cni OF com8i^>^ 



NEW YORK : 

COLLINS, KEESE & CO 

1841. 




^. 



^OpWASt^'-^"^ 



cj^: 






ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1841.. 
BY CHARLES ELLMS, IN THE CLERK's OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT 
COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



C. SHERMAN AND CO., PRINTERS, 
19, ST. JAMES STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 




Boston Light House. 



PREFACE. 



The imaginative mind of man has delighted to trace 
the origin of navigation from the instinctive motions of 
the buoyant nautilus, as it spreads its tiny sail to the 
breeze, or the appearance of a floating oak, which, up- 
rooted by the sudden ravages of inundation, supported 
the animal that had reposed beneath its shade. But, 
passing by the numerous fanciful and traditionary ac- 
counts of profane history, we have the sacred record 
that it originated in that stupendous act of divine mercy 
and immutable justice, by which the human race were 
punished and preserved, — by which the earth was puri- 
fied throughout its most distant extent; and the great 
archetype of navigation was the Ark of Noah, con- 
structed by divine direction. 

The rude essays in boat-building of all savage na- 
tions appear to have arrived at similar results. The 
difference is small between the canoe of the South Sea 
islander, hollowed out by fire, and that of the Esqui- 
maux, framed of the bones of beasts and fishes, and cov- 
ered with seal-skins — the canoe of the African and the 
American Indian. The barks of the early Britons, made 
of wattled osiers, and covered with hides, are, under the 
name of coracles, used in England at the present day. 



iv PREFACE. 

The natives of the North West Coast of America ven- 
ture forth, in the roughest weather, in their skin-covered 
canoes, and can outstrip the swiftest barge in speed. The 
flying proa of the Ladrone Islands sails nearer the wind, 
and with a velocity far greater than science and philosophy 
have ever enabled civilized man to attain. 

The improvement of naval architecture advanced with 
the arts of civilization; and from the canoe were succes- 
sively produced the barge, galley, carravel, carrack, and 
ship. And by the appliance of steam power, continents 
are joined, and extensive seas are traversed, with the 
same regularity, but far greater speed, than by land travel. 

What can convey a more exalted idea of human 
daring and fortitude, than the boldness with which man 
rushes forth to encounter the storms and waves of those 
two mighty elements, the air and ocean? What can 
speak louder in praise of human ingenuity, than the 
wonderful art by which he is enabled to boldly steer 
from the land until it fades in the horizon, and nothing 
is to be seen but the heavenly concave above and a 
watery waste around him? Yet by perseverance he 
wearies out the elements, and reaches his destined port 
in safety. 

But often all his perseverance, fortitude, and ingenuity, 
avail him nothing ; and he neither reaches his destined 
haven nor any other, on this side of eternity, having 
fallen a victim to the disasters of the ocean. 

Reader ! these misfortunes, produced by shipwreck, 
fire, and famine, compose this volume, prepared for your 
perusal. 




Nix's Mate, in Boston Harbor, at low water. 




He must not float upon his watery bier, 
Unwept, and welter to the parching wind. 

******* 
Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise, 
Ay me! whilst thee the shores and sounding seas 
VVash far away." Milton. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The strongest sympathies and emotions of our nature are 
justly called forth by the perilous adventures and unknown 
fate which so often befall *' those who go down to the sea in 
ships, and do business on the great waters." How many 
breasts are daily agitated by the alternate throbs of hope and 
fear, as the '' Shipping News " is read over for tidings of the 
vessel that has long been missing, and on board of which a 
husband, brother, son, or some other loved one, has embarked! 
And, long, long after all probability that he will ever again 
be heard from has ceased, hope, that balm of life, still cheers 
up the faint heart. 

Angel of life ! thy glittering' wings explore 
Earth's loneliest bounds, and ocean's wildest sliore. 
I* 



VI 



INTRODUCTION. 



And if the lost one was on a voyage to the Indies, or had 
rounded Cape Horn, to cruise among the coral Archipelagos 
of the South Seas, the imagination may come to the aid of 
hope, and a distant vision of that missing ship float before the 
mind's eye. 

As she briskly sails on the blue waters of a tropical sea, 
the breeze gradually dies away, and a calm succeeds; the sails 
idly flap against the masts; not a zephyr moves the sleeping 
canvass; and the extended yards and booms lazily creak in 
their slings and sockets, as she languidly reposes on her own 
shadow. The waters seem petrified into polished blue marble, 
tempting one to walk on their treacherous surface; and the 
feverish crew are oppressed by the excessive heat and closeness 
of the atmosphere. But the calms of the ocean, like those 
of life, are short ; soon a change of weather is apparent, and 
the gray, misty hues of the horizon are every instant grow- 
ing denser and darker. The men aloft are sending down the 
light masts and spars, and those on deck clewing up the sails, 
lashing the boats, and securing the hatchways. The sea is now 
lashed up into dark billows, with their foaming crests, and the 
storm strikes the ship. In an instant, the little sail that remains 
spread is blown into ribbons, and the ship staggers before the 
hurricane, under bare poles, with nothing to hold the furious 
wind, but the bending, straining masts and the wailing cordage. 




After the first fury of the gale is spent, she is carefully luffed 
up to the wind, and laid to under a close-reefed storm-staysail. 
With the sea white with foam, and the sky of a pitchy darkness, 
night sets in. Soon a heavy sea is shipped, which sweeps the 
decks, carrying overboard the long-boat and part of the crew; 
and, during the middle watches, the ship strikes a sunken rock 
with fearful violence. One mast goes by the board, and the 
others are cut away, to relieve the ship. The waves now break 
over her, washing off many of the crew. The morning comes : 
a reddish glimmer in the east, with a dark scud above, discovers 



INTRODUCTION. 



VU 



the situation of the ship, lying along a bed of coral rocks, and 
fixed within its jagged points; and, through the thick showers 
of spray, at no great distance, the head of the lofty palm is seen, 
bowing to the blast. The storm having expended its fury, as the 
sun rises, the gale abates, and the survivors, among whom is the 
cherished friend, effect a landing. 

The island is uninhabited by man, but abounding in all the 
charms and luxuries of nature. Around the coral shores grows 
the cocoa palm. 

"The Indian's nut alone 

Is clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can, 

Boat, cable, sail, and needle, all in one." 

The interior is composed of mountain, stream, valley, lawns, 
and deep dells; and among the spicy groves, birds of tuneful 
song and gorgeous plumage fly. The fat and juicy turtle 
grazes on the sea-grass of the strand; the ponds abound with 
rice, and the uplands with the sweet yam ; a dessert is found 
in the milky cocoa-nut, the melting plantain fruit, the luscious 
mango, mangosteen, and pine-apple. Under a pretty clump of 
palm-trees they build a hut of bamboos, the sides wattled with 
ratans, the roof thatched with cadjan leaves, and the wicker door 
interwoven with split reeds. Here they sing, and pray, and keep 
calm Sabbaths. 




To such a solitary paradise the imagination may fondly trace 
the unknown fate of one who left his home for distant Shores, 
and " was never heard of more." 

What spell is in those words, 'Uvas never heard of more" 



VIU 



INTRODUCTION. 



to enchain the imagination as they do ? Why has the vague and 
mournful fate of Mungo Park more power to wake our human 
sympathies than all the detailed horrors of an authenticated 
martyrdom 1 How does the curious fancy follow him through 
savage wilds and unknown perils, and wander like a mournful 
ghost round the spot where the last faint traces of his pilgrimage 
are lost in dark and horrible rumors of murder and treachery ! 

Who does not love to ponder on the romantic fate of La Pe- 
rouse, as circumstantially told by the fragments of his vessels, 
and the traditions of the islanders where he was wrecked, after 
being enveloped in profound mystery for forty years! 

But what shipwreck, however fearful its relation, can have 
more intense interest in one's eyes than these words, copied from 
an old English newspaper — "The Buckinghamshire East In- 
diaman left London the 13th of May, 1769. She is supposed 
to have foundered at sea, with one hundred and forty souls on 
board, as she has never been heard of since!" 




Reader, we will leave your imagination to discover the- way in 
which this Indiaman met her fate. 

But, leaving the regions of fancy, we will alight on the hard 
rocks of reality. The Narratives that follow are plain, true, 
and unvarnished ; and if the hand that guided the rudder in 
the hour of misfortune was prevented, by the physical elements, 
from steering a correct course, nothing has prevented truth, that 
moral magnet of the mind, from invariably guiding the survivor 
in his narration. 




Year. Page. 

1834. An affecting Narrative of the Loss of the CHARLES 
EATON, on the Great Barrier Reef of New Holland, and the 
Massacre of nearly all the Ship's Company by the Na- 
tives; with a Journal of the Proceedings on Board of the 
Schooner Isabella, when in Search of the Survivors, and the 
Rescue of the Infant William D'Oyley from the Polynesian 
Cannibals, 13 

1837. A Narrative of the Wreck of the BRIG REGULATOR, 

off Plymouth, in Massachusetts Bay, 41 

1835. The singular Preservation of JAMES BROCK, the Beachman, 
who was CAPSIZED IN A Yawl off Yarmouth, on the Eastern 
Coast of England; and his providential Rescue, after swimming 
more than Fourteen Miles, 50 

1837. A detailed Journal of the Proceedings on Board of the STEAM- 
PACKET HOME, which sprung a-leak off Cape Hatteras; 
with a melancholy Account of her Subsequent Loss on Ocra- 
coKE Island, off the Coast of North Carolina, 58 

1837. Horrid Particulars of the Proceedings on Board of the 
SHIP FRANCIS SPAIGHT, which foundered in. the At- 
I.ANTIC Ocean, , 85 



X 




m 



Year. Page. 

1817. The Pamperos of the Rio de la Plata; with the remarkable 
Narrative of Mr. George Fracker, the sole Survivor of the 
Crew of the SHIP JANE ; his Escape to the Shore, and per- 
ilous Situation while among the Guachas of South 
America, .- 89 

1821. The remarkable Narrative of the SHIP SEA-FOX, which 

was CAPSIZED BY A SquALL IN THE ATLANTIC OcEAN ; with 

the Sufferings of Four of the Crew, who were confined in 
THE Forecastle three Days; and their Rescue from this 
perilous Situation, by cutting through the Deck, 116 

1818. Extract from the Log-Book of the SHIP OGLETHORPE, 
which was struck by Lightning, during a Voyage from 
Savannah to Liverpool ; being an Account of the Proceedings 

on Board of that Vessel when on Fire, 123 

1832. The V^^reck of the American WHALE-SHIP MENTOR 
on the Coral Reefs of the Pelew Islands; with the Captivity 
AND Escape of Horace Holden and -Benjamin H. Nute, who 
for two Years were subjected to unheard-of Sufferings among 
the barbarous Inhabitants of Lord North's Island, 127 

1839. Dr. Madden's Narrative of the Noble Conduct of Captain 
Collins of the PACKET SHIP ROSCIUS of New York, in 
rescuing the Officers and Crew of the English SHIP SCOTIA, 
which was water-logged in the Atlantic Ocean, 155 

1837. The melancholy Account of the Loss or the STEAM- 
PACKET PULASKI, off Cape Look-Out, on the Coast of 
North Carolina, occasioned by the Explosion of the Steam- 
Boiler; with the Narratives of the Sufferings and affecting 
Scenes which those passed through who survived the Catas- 
trophe, whilst floating on Fragments of the Wreck, and in 
reaching the Shore in Boats, 361 

1835. The Burning of the SHIP SIR WALTER SCOTT, which 

was STRUCK by Lightning, 191 

1826. The Famine on Board of the SHIP FRANCES MARY, 

which FOUNDERED IN THE ATLANTIC OcEAN, 193 

1838. The HEROISM OF A STEAMBOAT ENGINEER, during 

a Gale on Lake Erie, 197 

1838. The History of Bamborough Castle, on the North-Eastern 
Coast of England; with the HEROISM OF GRACE DAR- 
LING, of the Longstone Light-House, in rescuing the ship- 
wrecked Company of the FORFARSHIRE STEAM-PACKET, 199 

1835. A Diary of the Wreck of H. B. M. SHIP CHALLENGER 
on the Western Coast of South America; with an Account o 
the Encampment of the Officers and Crew, during a Period 
of two Months, on the South Coast of Chili, and their subse- 
quent Adventures on the Plains of Molguilla, 211 

1835. Nautical Skill evinced in extricating the FRIGATE 
PIQUE from her perilous Situation on the Rocks of 
Labrador, where she lost her Keel: and the Passage across 
the Atlantic, during which she lost her Rudder, and was 
steered fifteen Hundred Miles avithout any, 226 

1836. Affecting Accident — A CHILD OVERBOARD, 235 



@©@@@@@@ 



XI 



Year. Page. 

1837. The Stranding of the BARQUE MEXICO, on Hempstead 
Beach, South Shore of Long Island ; by which Catastrophe one 

HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN LiVES WERE LOST, 236 

1805. A graphic Description of the perilous Situation and Pro- 
ceedings ON Board of the SHIP CENTAUR OF 74 GUNS, 
Captain Henry Whitby, during a Hurricane experienced by a 
Squadron under the Command of Commodore De Courcy, in 
which she sprung a-leak, and was dismasted, and thereby 
prevented from joining Lord Nelson's Fleet, and taking her 
Station in the Line of Trafalgar, 247 

1832. Some Particulars respecting A JAPANESE VESSEL which 
reached Woahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands, after being blown 
off the Coast of Japan, and drifting on the Ocean nearly a 
Te A R, 262 

1840. Eight Days on Board of a burning Ship ; being the Pro- 
ceedings of the Officers and Crew of the BARQUE BUR- 
LINGTON, which was struck by Lightning and burnt in 
the Atlantic Ocean, 264 

1585. Shipwreck of the Portuguese Admiral FERNANDO 
DE MENDOZA on the Bassas de Juida, in the Indian Ocean ; 
with the affecting Proceedings of two Brothers, 270 

1835. The Loss of the ROYAL CHARLOTTE on the Coral 
Rocks of Frederick's Reef; with a Narrative of the Sojourn 
and Sufferings of her Company on that low Place, during the 
Voyage of the Long-Boat to New Holland for Assistance, and 
the Arrival of a Vessel for their Relief, 275 

1836. The Loss of the BARQUE MEDUSA, an English West 
Indiaman, which was driven on the Rocks of the Colorados 
Reef, off the Island of Cuba, 290 

1836. The Conflagration of the STEAMER ROYAL TAR, in 

Penobscot Bay, off the Coast of Maine, 295 

1803. A Terrible Typhoon encountered by the SHIP FANNY 
in the Chinese Ocean; during which she lost her Foremast 
AND Rudder. After reaching the Island of Hainan, she was 
BLOWN OFF THE CoAST, and LOST ON A Reef OF RocKS, whcre 
her Company built two Floats, in which they embarked, and 
reached Malacca, a Distance of eleven hundred Miles,.... 308 

1823. The miraculous Escape of a LASCAR, who was washed 
OVERBOARD during a Gale in the Bay of Bengal, and after swim- 
ming THIRTEEN HoURS, WITHOUT ANY SuPPORT, WaS pickcd Up 

by a passing Ship, 322 

1838. An Account of the Wreck of the BRIG ALNA on the 
Coast of East Florida, and the Massacre of the Officers, 
AND Part of the Crew, by the Seminole Indians; and the 
Escape and subsequent Adventures and Sufferings of 
two of the Crew, 324 

1833. A Detail of the terrible Proceedings on Board of an Italian 
Brig, the ESPIRITO SANTO, in which the Plague broke out, 
during a Voyage from Alexandria towards Leghorn; by which 
awful Visitation the Crew became unable to manage the Vessel, 
and she was wrecked near Castle Rosas, on the Coast of 
Karamania, in the Mediterranean Sea, 330 



Xll 



Year. 
1837, 



1836, 



1808, 



1823, 



1838. 



1833, 



1840, 




m^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

Page. 
A descriptive Sketch of the River Mississippi, with illustra- 
tive Anecdotes of its dangerous Navigation ; and an affecting 
Account of the Burning of the BEIN SHERROD, a Steamboat 
on that River,. 343 

An interesting Account of a Boat, containing NINE NA- 
TIVES, which was blown off the Maldive Islands, in the 
Indian Ocean, and was swept bv a south-west Monsoon 
ACROSS the great Bay of Bengal to the Coast of Siam, a 
Distance of more than two thousand Miles, 355 

The Fights and Adventures of the Crew of the Russian 
American Company's Ship the ST. NTCHOLAI, during a So- 
journ of a Year amongst the hostile Natives of the North- West 
Coast of America,. 361 

The Sufferings of FOUR NEGROES, who escaped from 
the Seychelles Islands, in the Indian Ocean, and were picked 
up in the Mozambique Channel, i 376 

The Explosion of the STEAMBOAT MOSELLE, at Cin- 
cinnati, on the Ohio River ; containing a minute Detail of that 
terrible Event, and of the tremendous Force of the Steam, 380 

The UNKNOWN Fate of M. De Blosseville, of the FRENCH 
BRIG-OF-WAR LILLOISE, who sailed on a Voyage of Dis- 
covery to the Arctic Ocean, and never returned; with the detailed 
Journals of the three Voyages undertaken by the French Gov- 
ernment, in Search of this celebrated but unfortunate Navigator 
and his Comrades, 388 

A vivid Description of the Burning of the STEAMBOAT 
LEXINGTON, during a Winter's Night, on the Waters of Long 
Island Sound, 417 




AN AFFECTING NARRATIVE 



OF THE 



r"^ 




On the Great Barrier Reef of New Holland, and the 
Massacre of nearly all the Ship's Company by the 
Natives; with a Journal of the Proceedings on 
Board of the Schooner Isabella, when in Search 
of the Survivors, and the Rescue of the Infant 
William D'Oyley from the Polynesian Cannibals, 
Aumist, 1834. 



HE fate of the Charles Eaton and her 
company was, f^r about two years, the 
subject of intense interest and anxiety 
to many of the inhabitants of India. 
At length five of her crew reached 
Batavia in December, 1835. The ac- 
count they gave of the disaster was, 
that the ship was lost on the Barrier Reef of New Holland. 
2 




14 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

Soon after striking, she bilged, lost her rudder, and 
carried away her masts, the sea making a clear breach 
over her. One of the quarter-boats was lowered, into 
which were thrown sails, provisions, &c. The third mate, 
carpenter, and five seamen, entered her, pushed off, and 
soon lost sight of the ship. They stated that when they 
left her, the crew and passengers were all alive on the 
forecastle. The first land they made was Timor Laut, 
where they fell into the hands of the natives ; but they 
were generally well treated, and after remaining on the 
island thirteen months, they persuaded the natives to let 
them take passage in a return proa to Amboyna, prom- 
ising to send them back presents of muskets, ammunition, 
&c. They arrived here in October, and reached Batavia 
in* December. 

A clew was thus obtained as to the probable situation 
of those left behind, if hving; and as a lady of rare 
accomplishments, and her interesting children, together 
with several highly-respectable passengers, were among 
the sufferers, a strong sentiment pervaded the minds of 
the public, that rigorous exertions should be made to 
ascertain if any were yet alive, and to restore them to 
their friends and the blessings of civilized life. Accord- 
ingly, the government of Bombay despatched the brig-of- 
war Tigris, with orders to proceed to the spot where it 
was supposed the ship was wrecked, and to search the 
reefs and islands in the vicinity. About the same time, 
the government of New South Wales despatched the 
armed schooner Isabella on the same errand of mercy. 
As the latter vessel first reached the spot, rescued the 
survivors, and ascertained the awful fate of the dead, 
we shall insert a narrative of the proceedings on board 
of her. 

On the 3d of June, 1836, the Isabella, under the com- 
mand of Mr. C. M. Lewis, left Sydney in search of the 
unfortunate survivors of the Charles Eaton ; and at eight 
o'clock, June 19th, the weather being thick and heavy, the 
detached reefs on the north side of the entrance were seen 
bearing west-north-west, eight or ten miles. At nine o'clock, 
Murray's Island, from the mast-head, bore west by south, 
and at half past nine, the Isabella entered the Cumberland's 



A WHITE MAN DISCOVERED. 



15 



Passage, which was cleared at ten, and at eleven o'clock 
was anchored ofF the north side of Murray's Island, a mile 
distant, in nineteen fathoms, sand and coral. 

As soon as the vessel was secured, the attention of the 
crew was directed to the shore, on the beach of which a 
group of Indians was collected, showing signals of peace by 
extending their arms, and displaying gestures similar to the 
natives of the main ; and among them was plainly distin- 
guished a naked white man. The Indians were preparing 




The Schooner Isabella in Search of the Survivors. 

to launch their canoes ; and, as there existed some doubts 
as to the real disposition of these islanders, every prepara- 
tion of defence was made on board of the schooner ; but 
that they might not be deterred from visiting the vessel, the 
loaded guns were run in, and one half of the crew .was 
concealed below, in readiness to repel any attack. To the 
westward a canoe was observed under sail. 



16 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

It was not long before four canoes came off, each of 
which contained sixteen men. On their approach they be- 
gan to make signs of friendship, by rubbing the hand over 
the abdomen, and calhng out in loud voices, "Poud4 
poud ! " (peace, peace.) Their object was to trade ; and 
for that purpose they had brought tortoise-shell, cocoa-nuts, 
and other trifles, which, as they approached the ship, they 
held up, calling out, " Tooree," and " toolick ; " meaning 
iron tools, such as knives and axes. It was, however, pre- 
tended by signs that they were not understood, in the hope 
that tliby would bring off the white man to interpret for 
them ; at the same time some axes were displayed, the sight 
of which made the Indians so anxious to possess them, that 
although they might have easily been induced to give up 
their nearest relations in exchange, yet they showed great 
reluctance in producing the white man ; and it was not until 
they found their trade would not be allowed, and they began 
to be impatient to possess the valuable articles which they 
had seen, that they sent a canoe to the shore, which returned 
in an hour with him ; but he was not permitted to come on 
board until some axes were given in exchange. Upon in- 
terrogating him, Mr. Lewis was very much gratified to find 
that he was one of the unfortunate crew of the Charles 
Eaton, — his name being John Ireland. 

Deferring any further inquiries for the present, Mr. Lewis 
gave the crew permission to trade with the Indians ; upon 
which an active barter commenced^ and was carried on with 
great briskness and in the most friendly manner. The first 
present which was given them was some empty glass bottles, 
which they call " tarpoor," on which a few lines, explaining 
the particulars and intention of the schooner's visit had been 
scratched, in order that should any white people be on the 
island, they might be informed of the means of escape 
which was now open to them. Ireland informed Mr. 
Lewis that he had been treated with great kindness by the 
Indians generally, but pointed out one in- particular, whose 
name was Duppar, to whom he was indebted for his life and 
protection, and from whom he had even received parental 
kindness. A favorable opportunity was therefore afforded 
of rewarding him for his humanity. He was invited on 
board, clothed in "fine linen," and loaded with presents, 



A SAVAGE REWARDED. IRELANd's STORY. 17 

which put the old man in high spirits ; and if possessed of a 
reflective mind, he would doubtless have been amply repaid 
in the satisfaction of' witnessing the delight that must have 
been visible in the faces of all on board, and of having been 
the means of restoring his adopted son to his countrymen. 
But it is to be feared that these sentiments are foreign to the 
savage, and that he would not have so readily given up his 
yrotege had he not been allured by the desire of possessing 
the enticing baits that were held out to him. Duppar, 
however, seemed pleased and satisfied with his reception 
and treatment. 

Ireland now informed Mr. Lewis that the youngest son of 
Captain D'Oyley was also on shore. Upon applying to the 
Indians to go for him, they said he was on the other side of 
the island, and could not be produced that night, but prom- 
ised that they would bring him on board in the morning. 
Fearing, however, that their reluctance to part with the 
child might induce them to conceal him, all bartering was 
ordered to be suspended until he was given up ; soon after 
which the canoes left the vessel and returned to the shore. 

Mr. Lewis had now an opportunity of obtaining from 
Ireland the account of the loss of the Charles Eaton, but 
found great difficulty in understanding him, for the boy had 
forgotten his native tongue, and mixed the Murray Island 
language so much with his own that he was unintelligible. 
Nor, indeed, was it until several days afterwards that the 
events which compose the follovv^ing melancholy tale could 
be elicited. 

The Charles Eaton left Sydney on the 29th of July, 
1834, bound to Canton, by way of Torres Strait, and expe- 
rienced a series of fine weather and favorable winds until 
she approached the Barrier Reefs, when the weather became 
thick and rainy. The master, being provided with a good 
chart, steered boldly for the reefs. Unfortunately for him, 
the weather was so clouded on approaching the Barriers, 
that he could obtain no observation for the latitude ; and yet 
it would appear that the ship was in a very favorable 
position. 

About ten o'clock in the morning the reefs were sudden- 
ly perceived close to ; upon which the ship was hove up in 
the wind, and both anchors let go, and the cables paid out 
2* 



18 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

to the end ; but as the depth was probably unfathomable, 
they had no eftect, for she drifted on the reef and fell over 
on her beam ends. The chief mate then cut her masts 
away ; but the bottom was soon bilged, and every thing de- 
stroyed by the water which broke over the decks, and the 
ship became a perfect wreck. Happily the upper part of 
the vessel kept together, on which the crew and passengers 
collected. Soon after she struck, a vessel was observed 
three or four miles to windward, high and dry upon the 
reefs, with her masts standing, and royal yards across, and 
sails set ; in which position she must have been left by her 
crew. 

During the confusion that existed, one of the quarter- 
boats was lowered, but immediately swamped, by which one 
man was drowned. Soon afterwards three of the crew, with 
the third mate and carpenter, put sails, provisions, and water, 
and arms, and all the carpenter's tools into the quarter-boat, 
and lowered her down, and kept near the wreck during the 
day and following night. The next day two seamen joined 
them, after which they refused to take any more, although 
six of the crew made their way over the reef the next morn- 
ing, and wished to be taken on board. The boat, however, 
bore away, and was seen no more. The master, then, as- 
sisted by those who remained, attempted to make a raft, 
which was not completed before the expiration of seven 
days. During this period, they had managed to distil the 
contents of a cask and some bottles from the sea, by the aid 
of the ship's coppers and a leaden pipe from the quarter- 
gallery cistern, the whole of which they placed on the raft, 
with a basket containing some beer and a cask of pork. 
Whilst they were upon the wreck, they were upon a daily 
allowance of two wine-glasses of water and a little damaged 
bread. 

As soon as the raft was completed, they got upon it ; but 
finding that it was not buoyant enough to hold them, they 
threw over the water, pork, and beer. Still it did not sup- 
port their weight ; so the greater number returned on board, 
leaving Mr. Moore, the master, Mr. Grant, the surgeon, 
Captain and Mrs. D'Oyley and their two children, their nurse, 
a passenger, and two seamen, who determined to remain on 
it all night. In the morning, however; it was found that the 



THE WRECK- ABANDONED. DISCOVERY BY THE NATIVES. 19 

rope by which the raft had been made fast to the stern of 
the vessel, had been cut, and nothing was seen of their 
companions. It is probable that the uncomfortable situation 
in which they found themselves, up to their waists in water, 
and the sea constantly breaking over them, induced the 
master to cut the rope, and trust to Providence to guide 
himself and the passengers to some place of safety. 

Those that remained then made a raft of the vessel's top- 
masts, lashed together with coir rope, and made a sail out 
of some cloth which formed a part of her cargo. It took 
seven days before it was completed, when they launched off 
and bade adieu to the ill-fated vessel, which was probably 
soon broken up, for at high water the sea breached over her. 

The vessel that was seen with her masts standing was too 
far to windward for them to reach, for even the boat couli^ 
not make way against the wind and current. Upon casting 
off, they set their sail and steered before the wind ; but the 
raft was so heavy and deep that very little progress was 
made. She drifted rather than sailed, and probably did not 
go more than a mile and a half per hour. After some time, 
they came to a reef, upon which they remained for the 
night, and the next morning proceeded before the wind, but 
saw no more reefs. After two days and nights upon the 
raft, up to their waists in water, and having partaken of very 
little food, they passed an island, and then saw several more 
ahead. Soon afterwards a canoe was perceived paddling 
towards them, containing ten or twelve Indians, who, as 
they approached, stood up and extended their arms to show 
they had no weapons, and were inclined to be friendly. 
On reaching the raft, the Indians got upon it and conducted 
themselves very peaceably, and, after a short time, proposed 
that they should leave the raft and go into the canoe, which 
they at first hesitated to do, until Thomas Ching, a midship- 
man, said he would go, as he should then have a better 
chance of getting to England ; upon which they all con- 
sented, and embarked in the canoe» Before they left, the 
Indians searched the raft very narrowly for iron implements, 
but only found a few hoops, which they collected and took 
with them. They left the raft about four o'clock in the 
afternoon, and in less than an hour were landed on the 
Island of Baydan. 



20 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

Upon disembarking, the natives accompanied them round 
the island in search of water and food, but they were so 
exhausted by fatigue and hunger that they could scarcely 
crawl. Upon their return to the place where they landed, 
they threw themselves on the ground in despair, as it was 
evident from the ferocious bearing and conduct of the sav- 
ages, who stood around their party, grinning and laughing 
in the most hideous manner, that they were exulting in the 
anticipation of their murderous intentions. In this dreadful 
state of suspense, Mr. Claer, the first officer, addressing his 
companions, recommended them to be resigned to their fate, 
and read to them, in a most impressive manner, several 
prayers from a book which he had brought with him from 
the wreck ; after which, commending themselves to the 
protection of the Almighty, they lay down, and, worn out 
by severe exhaustion, were soon asleep. But it was to 
them the sleep of death ; for no sooner had they composed 
themselves than, as Ireland describes, he was roused by a 
loud shout and noise, and upon looking up, saw the Indians 
murdering his companions by dashing their brains out with 
clubs. The first that was killed was poor Ching, and after 
him his companion Perry, and then Mr. Mayer, the second 
officer ; after which the confusion became so great that Ire- 
land could not distinguish what passed. The last, however, 
that met his fate was Mr. Claer, who, in the attempt to make 
his escape to the canoe, was overtaken by his pursuers, and 
immediately despatched by a blow on the head. 

Ireland and another boy, named Sexton, were now left 
awaiting their fate. The former, the narrator of this melan- 
choly tale, thus describes his deliverance: — 

"An Indian came to me, with a carving-knife, to cut my 
throat ; but, as he was about to do it, having seized hold of 
me, I grasped the blade of the knife in my right hand, and 
held it fast, struggling for my life. The Indian then threw 
me down, and, placing his knee on my breast, tried to 
wrench the knife out of my hand ; but I still retained it, 
although one of my fingers was cut through to the bone. 
At last, I succeeded in getting uppermost, when I let him 
go, and ran into the sea, and swam out ; but, being much 
exhausted, and as the only chance for my hfe was to return 
to the shore, I landed again, fully expecting to be knocked 



THE HEADS OF THE SHIP's COMPANY ARE ROASTED. 21 

on the head. The same Indian then came up, with an in- 
furiated gesture, and shot nie in the right breast with an 
arrow, and then, in a most unaccountable manner, suddenly 
became quite calm, and led or dragged me to a little dis- 
tance, and offered me some fish and water, which I was 
unable to partake of. 




Little George D'Oyley, and the Ship's Dog- Portland. 



" Whilst struggling with the Indian, I observed Sexton, 
who was held by another, bite a piece of his arm out ; but, 
after that, I knew nothing of him, until I found his life had 
been spared in a manner similar to my own. 

" At a short distance off, making the most hideous yells, 
the other savages were dancing round a large fire, before 
which were placed, in a row, the heads of their victims, 
whilst their decapitated bodies were washing in the surf on 



the beach, from which they soon disappeared, 



been, 



22 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

probably, washed away by the tide. Sexton and I were 
then placed in charge of two natives, who covered us with 
the sail of the canoe, (a sort of mat,) but paid no attention 
to my wound, which had been bleeding profusely." 

The next day, the Indians collected all the heads, and, 
embarking, removed to another island, where the women 
lived, which they called Pullan. On landing there, Ireland 
saw two of Captain D'Oyley's children, and the ship's dog, 
called Portland. The elder, George D'Oyley, told him that 
the first raft had landed on the island, and that all the pas- 
sengers, excepting himself and his brother, had been instant- 
ly murdered ; that his mother was killed by a blow with a 
club ; and that his little brother was in her arms at the time, 
but was saved by one of the women, who afterwards took 
care of him. The child was seen by Ireland, when they 
landed, in the woman's arms, crying very much. He also 
saw some pieces of the ship's cabin doors, attached as orna- 
ments to the heads of their canoes, which they appeared to 
prize very much, and other relics, among which were the 
skulls of the passengers and crew of the first raft, those of 
Mrs. D'Oyley and Captain Moore being plainly distinguisha- 
ble, the former by the hair, the latter by the features. The 
heads were suspended by a rope to a pole that was stuck up 
near the huts of the women, round which they danced every 
evening and morning, accompanying their infuriated ges- 
tures with the most horrid yells. 

The number of Indians collected amounted to about six- 
ty ; they were merely residing on the island during the fish- 
ing season, for their home, as it afterwards turned out, was 
at a considerable distance off. Their principal subsistence 
was turtle, and small fish, which they caught with hook and 
line, and shell fish, which abound on the 
reefs. The island also produces a small 
fruit, " like a plum, with a stone in it." 
The fish is broiled over the ashes of the 
fire, or boiled in the basin of a large 
volute, (Voluta Ethiopica,) which, being 
a scarce shell, is of great value to them. 
The Island of Pullan is covered with 
low trees and underwood, and the soil 
is sandy. In the centre of it is a spring, 
A Wild Plum. which supplied the whole party with 




DUPPAR BUYS IRELAND AND THE INFANT. 2S 

sufficient water for their consumption ; and, as Ireland says 
they used a great deal, it must, at least, have yielded fifteen 
or twenty gallons a day, for the hole was always full. Upon 
a voyage, they carry their water in bamboo joints and cocoa- 
nut shells, hke the Malays. 

After remaining here Iwo months, the Indians separated. 
One party, taking Ireland and the infant D'Oyley with them, 
embarked in a canoe, and, after half a day's sail, reached 
another islet to the northward, where they remained a day 
and a night on the sandy beach ; and, the next morning, 
proceeded, and reached another island similar to Pullan, 
low and bushy, where they remained a fortnight. They 
then proceeded to the northward, calling, on their way, at 
different islands, and remaining as long as they supplied 
food, until they reached one where they remained a month ; 
and then they went on a visit to Darnley's Island, which 
they called Aroob, where, for the first time, Ireland says, he 
received kind treatment. 

After a fortnight, they again embarked, and returned, by 
the way they came, to an island called Sirreb, situated near 
Aureed, where their voyage ended, and they remained until 
purchased by Duppar, the Murray Islander, who, it appears, 
upon hearing that there were two white boys in captivity at 
Aureed, embarked in a canoe with his 
wife, Pamoy, and went for the express 
purpose of obtaining them, taking, for 
the purpose of barter, some fruit. The 
price of their ransom was a bunch of ba- 
nanas for each. They returned by way 
of Darnley's Island, where they stopped 
a few days, and then reached Murray's 
Island, where they remained ever since, 
most kindly treated. Duppar gave little 
D'Oyley to a native named Oby, to take a Bunch orBananas. 
care of — a charge of which he faithfully 
acquitted himself; and both Oby and his adopted child soon 
became very fond of each othei ; for, as the child was a 
mere infant, he soon forgot his mother, and naturally at- 
tached himself to his nurse. When at Aureed, the Indians 
had named Ireland TVak; and little D'Oyley they called 
Uass ; names which they retained at Murray's Island, and 
3 




26 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

by which they are doubtless now known all over the archi- 
pelago. 

Ireland lived in the same hut with Duppar and his family. 
His employment was to cultivate a plantation of yams, and, 
during the season, to assist in taking turtle and shell fish. 
On one occasion, he accompanied them in an excursion 
towards New Guinea, where they went for the purpose of 
barter and trade ; which they frequently did to obtain bows 
and arrows, canoes, and feathers, for which they gave in 
return shells, and which, from their scarcity, the New 
Guinea people prize very much. But, as Duppar was fear- 
ful the New Guinea people would steal or murder him, he 
was left at Darnley's Island, in charge of Agge, an Indian, 
until their return. Duppar and his friends, however, were 
not long away ; for, having stopped at Campbell's Island to 
pass the night, one of the islanders attempted to take by 
force from one of the visitors his moco rnoco, (a kind of 
badge worn round the calves of the legs,) — upon which a 
quarrel ensued, in which the Murray Islanders used their 
bows and arrows, and wounded several, one being shot 
through the body. The Jarmuth people then retreated to 
their huts, and the others embarked. 

The next morning, the 20th, at seven o'clock, five canoes 
came ofT to the schooner to trade ; but, as they had not 
kept their promise of bringing off the child, no communica- 
tion was allowed to be held with them. As Mr. Lewis had 
now the advantage of Ireland's interpreting his wishes, no 
mistake or misunderstanding could occur in his communica- 
tion with them. It was evident they were very reluctant to 
give up the child; and yet they coveted the "toolic" and 
*'tooree" so much, that he had great hopes of effecting his 
object without resorting to force. After waiting, however, 
for some time, without any appearance of their sending for 
the child, he began to insist upon their giving him up ; and, 
opening the ports, ran the guns out, and made a demon- 
stration of using force, which had the desired effect ; for, 
though it did not diminish the confidence they had in him, 
they saw he was determined to gain his point, and sent a 
canoe ashore to bring the child off. It returned in a short 
time with a message that he was on the other side of the 
island, but should be given up, if Mr. Lewis would give 



OBY BRINGS THE INFANT ON BOARD. 27 

" tooree" for him, which was, of course, immediately assented 
to; but then they wanted the payment to be made in ad- 
vance. As it was evident, from the confidence they placed 
in Mr. Lewis, and the example that had been shown by the 
payment that had been made to Ireland, and the rewards 
that were afterwards given to Duppar, that the Indians had 
no intention of completing their part of the bargain, but 
merely wanted to obtain the " toolic," he refused to comply 
with their proposal, and repeated his orders not to trade. 

Shortly after this, upon looking towards the shore, a 
group of about one hundred Indians, evidently in deep con- 
sultation, were seen seated on a hill, and among them a little 
white child, perfectly naked, playing with others of the same 
size. After two or three hours, the group began to move 
down towards the shore ; and, at four o'clock, the child, sur- 
rounded by the natives, was brought to the beach in the 
arms of a young Indian, who seemed, by his kissing him, to 
be very sorrowful at the idea of giving him up. He, how- 
ever, embarked in a canoe, and brought him alongside. The 
child was frightened, and cried very much at leaving his sa- 
ble friend, whose neck he clung round, and pointed to the 
shore. Oby, however, brought his little charge on board, 
and descended into the cabin, where Mr. Lewis satisfied him 
with presents, and dressed him with clothes, at which he 
evinced no small delight. The bargain having now been 
completed, the canoes were permitted alongside, and the 
people to trade. They had not much, however, to dispose 
of: a few yams and cocoa-nuts, a small quantity of tortoise- 
shell, bows, arrows, fish-gigs, and shells of little value, were 
all they possessed. 

Towards evening, the canoes returned to the shore, but 
left Oby and Duppar on board, both of whom, particularly 
the former, sobbed very much at the idea of parting with 
their favorites. 

Before leaving the vessel's side, the Indians pressed Mr. 
Lewis to visit them on shore the next day, which he prom- 
ised to do. According to his promise, he landed the follow- 
ing morning, and was immediately surrounded by upwards 
of one hundred Indians, who expressed great delight at the 
meeting, by hugging and caressing him, and shaking hands ; 
but in order to prevent surprise, two boats were ordered to 



28 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

be off on their oars, and be prepared with their arms, should 
any hostility be shown. This movement, however, appeared 
to frighten the women and children so much that they ran 
away to the huts ; and it was some time before they mustered 
sufficient courage to approach. At last they were per- 
suaded by the men, who were evidently amused by their 
timidity ; an old fat lady gradually drew near and took Mr. 
Lewis's hand and held it in one of hers, scratching the palm 
with the fingers of the other. Confidence being thus re- 
stored, the women and children were presented with hand- 
kerchiefs and toys, which seemed to delight them very much. 
After remaining two hours with these friendly Indians, Mr. 
Lewis embarked with a view of examining the neighboring 
islands. On Dowar, which is high and rocky, many cocoa- 
nut trees, and several huts, were noticed ; but as it was not 
the fruit season, they were not inhabited. Near the huts 
were observed many skulls strung up among the bushes, 
which Ireland described to be the memorials of departed 
friends. Upon Dowar, or Golgotha, as Mr. Lewis named 
it, a golden plover was shot, and a few seeds and specimens 
of plants collected. 

Wyer was found to be very barren, and from its rugged 
and precipitous chasms bore a resemblance to a ruined for- 
tress. In the sheltered parts, however, a few huts were seen, 
and near them some cocoa-nut trees. Beche le mer abounded 
on the beaches ; some of them were procured weighing three 
pounds. The next morning, June 22d, five canoes came off 
to trade, but they brought fittle on board of any worth. Un- 
derstanding that there was a water-hole on the west-south- 
west end of the island, eight casks were sent on shore to be 
filled. The well was about one hundred yards from the 
beach, but it only contained enough to fill one cask, and 
that was so muddy as to be unfit for use. It appears that 
the island is very deficient in water, and what they use is 
collected in the wet season in holes, and the valves of an 
enormous bivalved shell, the Chama gigas, the fish of which 
alone has been frequently found to weigh upwards of three 
hundred weight ; so that it would take the united strength 
of three or four men to move the shell when it contains its 
inhabitant. The valves may probably contain three or four 
gallons of water. For drink they use principally the milk 



INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVES. 29 

of the young cocoa-nut. Whilst filling the cask with water, 
one of the Indians took the opportunity of stealing a cask, 
and concealing it in the bushes at some distance ; it was, 
however, discovered, upon which the thief and his compan- 
ions scampered off, for fear of punishment^ for the party was 
well armed. The Isabella's people afterwards had several 
opportunities of witnessing their thievish propensities; par- 
ticularly for any edge tools. On Wyer was observed, sus- 
pended between two bamboo trees, but supported by a rock 
in an inclined position, the skeleton of a man, which had 
evidently been placed there some time, as all the flesh was 
dried up or decomposed. The figure had been painted over 
with a dark-red ochreous pigment, with which they daub 
their bodies. In the forehead were pieces of mother-of- 
pearl, to represent eyes. The natives explained that he had 
died from swollen bowels, which was caused by some incan- 
tation of the Darnley Islanders, and that after he was dead, 
a' substance, like a turtle, was taken out of him, which they 
attributed to the curse. 

The next day Mr. Lewis had another conversation respect- 
ing the massacre, with a large party, who were assembled 
around him and Ireland: the latter interpreted, as usual, 
what they had to say. They gave him to understand that 
the heads of the " white people," who had been murdered 
at Boydan, were in a state of preservation at the huts on 
Aureed ; and that the Indians every night and morning 
danced around them, and expressed their delight by yelling 
and hootinfr, and displaying the most horrid gestures ; but 
repeated the oft-told tale, that there were no survivors, and 
confirmed the story he had previously heard from Ireland, 
that the Murray Islanders had seen the heads of Sexton 
and George D'Oyley at one of the islands, and that the hair 
of one of them had been so much admired, that the Indians 
had cut it off and made it into an ornament. They told him 
that the murderers had eaten the eyes and cheeks of their 
victims, to excite them to the deed ; but this was generally 
done, whenever any fell in battle, or are murdered. The 
children are also made to partake of this disgusting food, in 
order to make them ferocious. 

Mr. Lewis now determined to proceed to Aureed, to 
recover the heads of his unfortunate countrymen. In de- 
3* 



30 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

scribing the situation of Aureed, they pointed to the south- 
west by south, and gave him to understand that it could not 
be mistaken, since it was the only island that had cocoa-nuts 
on it ; from which he anticipated that the search would be 
comparatively easy. 

On the 20th, Mr. Lewis left Darnley Island, when he 
repeated his hope, that they would never injure or ill-treat 
any white people who might be cast away upon the island, 
and vvas again and again promised they would attend to his 
wishes. Upon going away, the Indians were all seated in a 
circle, when one took Mr. Lewis by the arm and led him 
round the party, to shake, or rather scrape, each other by 
the hand, and to receive an affectionate embrace. 

The next day, at evening, they anchored under the lee 
of Marsden Island ; these Indians are of the same charac- 
ter as those of Murray and Darnley Islands, and speak the 
same language. Ireland understood every word they said, 
and was therefore enabled to communicate with them without 
difficulty. He first demanded the white ; and on being 
asked what had been done with the " white skulls," they 
denied having them in their possession ; they had only been 
brought by the Indians of Aureed to show to them, but had 
been taken away again. Mr. Lewis, however, not feehng 
satisfied with their answers, ordered eighteen men out of 
the boats, armed with muskets and fixed bayonets, and cut- 
lasses, and then, having them in his power, peremptorily 
demanded the skulls ; but as they were much frightened 
and produced none, it was thought probable their story was 
correct. They also stated that the natives of Aureed had 
left the island, having heard that the schooner was on the 
way to punish them for the murder they had committed ; 
that all the white men had been murdered, and that some 
of the skulls had been sent to New Guinea. During this 
parley the Indians were shouting loudly for assistance from 
their friends, but the boat's crews were too strong for them. 
After some time, finding that no satisfactory intelligence 
was obtained, room was made for them to pass ; upon which 
they scampered off with great rapidity. Two of the sea- 
men very improperly fired their muskets over their heads ; 
which, however, did not injure them, and served only to 
increase the rapidity of their flight. These islanders told 




The terrible Trophy to which the Skulls were affixed. — Pa<re 33. 



THE LONG-SEARCHED-FOR HEADS FOUND. 33 

them that their principal food was cocoa-nuts and yams, and 
that they were frequently robbed of them by the Indians of 
other islands. 

On Mr. Lewis's wading across to the southernmost island, 
the Indians, who were there, escaped in their canoes, and 
steered towards the west-south-west. A strict search was 
made all over the island, but no remains of Europeans were 
found. The party then returned on board. 

The next day was occupied in searching amongst the 
islands. The anchor was dropped in the afternoon near an 
island about half a mile off; when a boat visited the shore, 
but found no trace of what they were in search of. A few 
deserted sheds, used probably when fishing, were the only 
marks of its ever being visited by the Indians. Several, 
birds, viz., pigeons, quails, and rails, flushed ; and an im- 
mense number of rats were seen. The trees were princi- 
pally swamp oak and fig ; a species of vine, also, and creep- 
ing plants, were seen. Mr. Lewis carved his name on one 
of the trees. 

On the morning of the 25th the schooner got under way, 
and worked to windward towards an island, which, having 
cocoa-nuts on it, and being very low, answered to the de- 
scription given of Aureed by the Murray Islanders. Several 
dogs were noticed howling on the beach, but no Indians 
showed themselves. Mr. Lewis then caused the boats to 
be manned and armed, and to proceed to the shore, and, 
having landed, walked towards the cocoa-nut trees, near the 
centre, where he fully expected to find the inhabitants, or 
their dwellings ; but after a diligent search neither were 
found. However, perceiving another group of trees at a 
distance, he proceeded thither, and discovered a low, thatched 
shed, containing the long-searched-for heads. They were 
attached by a piece of European rope to a grotesque repre- 
sentation of a man's face, formed by turtle shell, and orna- 
mented with cowries and other shells. Several of the 
skulls were evidently of Indian, but many were of European 
origin, and bore marks of violence; some few having the 
hair driven into the indentations made by blows with the 
tomahawk. 

In order not to mutilate this figure, or destroy it, Mr. 
Lewis caused the shed to be unroofed, and then carefully 



34 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATOT^. 

removed it to the boat. Whilst one party was doing this, 
another proceeded to make a dihgent search through the 
island ; at a short distance, they came to a circular spot, 
planted with tobacco, which they destroyed. Several trees 
bore the recent marks of a tomahawk. Searching farther, 
they discovered what, under other circumstances, might 
have been considered a very romantic spot, .shaded with 
large trees, which the Indians probably used to celebrate 
their infernal orgies; for an avenue led to it from the skull 
house, both sides of which were ornamented with shells 
stained with ochre : in the centre of this spot was a pile of 
drinking cups, made of the cocoa-nut shell cut in half. As 
there were no marks of a recent feast, it is probable that 
the island is only used as a depository of skulls. 

Mr. Lewis was now satisfied that he had found the iden- 
tical Aureed ; and therefore, by way of showing his anger 
at the horrid deed they had committed, destroyed every thing 
that could be useful to the Indians. The skull house was 
burned down, and the fire raged over the whole island, and 
burned down some huts at the north-east end, which had 
been examined previously, but only a club, a sort of bird 
cage, and a few pieces of deck plank, were found in them. 
The following day was spent in destroying all the cocoa- 
nuts, and cutting down the other trees, and doing all the 
mischief they could. It will take some time for the cocoa- 
nuts to grow up again, but the other plants will speedily re- 
appear. After another search, a sheet of copper and an 
eye-bolt, and near the ruins of the shed two more Eu- 
ropean skulls, were found : the last were a little scorched 
with the fire, but they were taken on board and deposited 
with the others in a case. 

Leaving Aureed, the schooner proceeded and stood to 
the east-north-east, towards another island ; but as there were 
no Indians on it, Mr. Lewis did not land. It was evident 
that the object of the schooner's visit was known throughout 
the group, since every island was deserted by the inhabit- 
ants as she approached, for fear of being punished ; for it 
is probable that the Indians of all the group are more or 
less implicated in the brutal transaction. They now landed 
on Half- Way Island, and examined it ; but nothing worth 
notice was found, excepting the marks of former visitors, 




The Ronianlic spot, where Uie Cannibals held their Infernal Orgies ; — and a View 
of the Hut, where the Skulls were deposited. — Pa^e M. 



A LETTER ENCLOSED IN A BOTTLE. 



3T 




The Tree under wliich Mr. Lewis buried the Bottle. 



and some native fishing huts, at the north-east end. Some 
culinary seed were sowed in many parts of the island ; and 
a letter, corked up in a bottle, was buried in the ground, 
under a remarkable tree, through the branches of which 
4 



38 THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 

grew a lofty palm, on which the words ''Dig under" were 
carved. The letter contained an account of what had been 
done. 

Here an immense specimen of the chama gigas was found : 
to take it on board it was slung to an oar, but six of the boat's 
crew could not lift it ; so they were obliged to roll it to the 
boat. The next day, 29th, they proceeded and anchored 
on the north side of Mount Adolphus's Island, at a mile off 
shore ; and the next day arrived at Double Island, on which 
some Indians were observed, waving, and, as usual, crying 
out, " Poud, poud." As soon as the vessel was anchored, 
Mr. Lewis communicated with them, but could obtain no 
account of white people. He thought they spoke the same 
language as the Murray Islanders, but Ireland could un- 
derstand but iew words. On the beach, some planks and 
a vessel's niizzenmast were found ; but the ship to which 
they belonged must have been wrecked many years since. 
The plank was teak; the mast was cut up for firewood, for 
it was useless for any other purpose, being rent in every part, 
and much decayed. The next day, 31st, the Honorable 
Company's cruiser, the Tigris, arrived from Bombay, in 
search of the survivors of the Charles Eaton. 

The Tigris had stopped at Half- Way Island, and found 
the letter in the bottle, which informed them of all that had 
transpired. The surgeon of the Tigris visited the Isabella 
with Captain Igglesdon, and examined the skulls ; seventeen 
of which he was satisfied were the heads of Europeans. It 
was now arranged that both vessels should proceed to Raffles 
Bay for water, calling, in their way, at Wednesday Island. 
At the anchorage, oft' Double Island, very strong tides were 
experienced. 

The following morning, Aug. 2d, the Tigris and Isabella 
anchored on the north side of Wednesday Island, near a 
reef. Whilst Mr. Lewis was sounding it, a group of about 
twenty Indians appeared on the beach, hallooing and waving 
boughs, and inviting him to land, which he did, and found 
them principally to be females. One of them, an elderly 
woman, told him that she had then with her ten daughters, 
besides more children in the bush. He made the old lady 
a present of handkerchiefs, and also one to each of the rest, 
and then returned on board. Captain Igglesdon's people 



THE ISABELLA REACHES SYDNEY, S9 

also had a friendly interview with them, and made them 
some presents, which gained their good-wilJ. 

In the afternoon. Captain Igglesdon accompanied Mr. 
Lewis, with three armed boats, to the head of the bay, 
where the Indians lived, and found six canoes on the beach, 
and a large number of Indians standing around the huts, 
whose appearance was not of the most friendly complexion. 
However, after a short interview, they separated without n 
quarrel. It was with some difficulty that they could obtain 
an answer to their question respecting the existence of any 
white men amongst them ; but after a little time, they told the 
interpreter that they knew of none. Mr. Lewis gave them 
a kw presents, for which, in return, tliey presented them 
some mother-of-pearl. At a short distance from the beacli 
Mr. Lewis found a heap of sea-elephant bones, collected in 
the form of a grave. 

From this place the vessels crossed the Gulf of Carpenta- 
ria ; and on the 5th passed Cape Wessel, off which much 
discolored water was observed, which they passed round ; 
but at seven P. M., standing towards Cape Croker, Mr, 
Lewis was suddenly alarmed by observing minute-guns tired 
from the Tigris, which was three miles ahead. Of course 
the Isabella was instantly anchored ; and on going on board 
of the Tigris it was found she had grounded on a patch of 
coral, but she was soon got off with the loss of her false 
keel and rudder. The next day, 7th August, being near 
Raffles Bay, both vessels got under way and proceeded 
thither, where a new rudder was made by the assistance of 
the Isabella's carpenter. After separating, the Isabella en- 
tered Bass Strait on the 5th October, and arrived at Sydney 
on the 12th, having been absent nearly five months. 

It now only remains to say that the skulls of the unfortu- 
nate crew and passengers of the Charles Eaton were interred 
in a grave in the burial-ground at Sydney, which may afford 
some consolation to their friends. The fate of George 
D'Oyley and Sexton is still in some remote degree uncer- 
tain. Every pains and trouble seem to have been taken to 
ascertain the certainty of their fate ; and Mr. Lewis had no 
doubt of the fact. Had either been alive, the desire of pos- 
sessing the valuable iron implements, which were offered in 
exchange for them, would have insured their being brought 



40 



THE LOSS OF THE CHARLES EATON. 



forward by the Indians ; and their not having done so is a 
more than presumptive proof of their not being in existence. 
The same story, of their having been murdered, was told 
throughout the islands without prevarication, together with 
the names of the murderers, as well as the circumstance of 
the hair of young D'Oyley having been preserved as an 
ornamental trophy. 




A Trophj'. supposed to have been made from llie Hair of George D'Ojley. 



A NARRATIVE 

OF THE 

WRECK OF THE BRIG REGULATOR, 

OFF PLYMOUTH, IN MASSACHUSETTS BAY, 
1837, 




The Brig Regulator entering Massachusetts Bay, 

ROM the numerous records of shipwreck 
and suffering which have happened on 
the inclement coast of New England, 
we insert the following graphic and af- 
fecting narrative, written by Captain 
William D. Phelps, and obligingly given 

to us for publication : — 

"The Regulator, from Alexandria, Egypt, via Smyrna and 




42 THE WRECK OF THE BRIG . REGULATOR. 

Malta, arrived on the American coast tlie 1st of February, 
1837, bound to Boston. On that day, we got soundings in 
the South Channel ; wind south, with a warm, drenching 
rain. The passage across the Atlantic had been pleasant 
for the season ; and we were now within a day's sail of 
our port, with a fair wind, and good prospects of a pleasant 
termination to a voyage which had heretofore been remark- 
ably pleasant. 

" Every stitch of canvass was spread to the breeze, and a 
heavy press carried on the vessel, in order to get to the 
northward of all the shoals, and into Boston Bay, before a 
change of wind. About 3, P. M., judging the vessel clear 
of the shoal ground, she was hauled up north-west for the 
back of Cape Cod, the lee studding-sails taken in, and booms 
rigged in. At about 4, P. M., those well-known indications 
of a sudden change of wind to the north-west warned us 
that our fair wind, and prospects of a speedy termination to 
the voyage, were soon to be changed for a contrary gale, and 
the biting breath of winter. The light sails were all taken 
in, the topsails clewed down to be reefed, and all possible de- 
spatch used to get the vessel snug ; but, owing to the heavy 
rains, which had continued for the twenty-four hours previ- 
ous, the sails and rigging were so saturated with water as to 
retard the work very much. The wind now hauled sudden- 
ly to the north-west, blowing furiously, and the cold intense. 
In ten minutes, every sail was frozen stiff, while the rigging 
and spars were covered with ice from the mast-heads to the 
deck. One reef was secured in the topsails, and, after in- 
effectual attempts at a second, the men were ordered from 
the yards, half of them being badly frosted. The gale con- 
tinued to increase, and the vessel, under a heavy press of 
canvass, driving to the north-eastward, shipping much w^ater, 
and the ice fast accumulating on the decks and about the 
bowsprit. At midnight, w^ore ship, and stood in shore, and 
at daylight, made Chatham lights ahead. At 7, A. M., wore 
ship again, about two miles north-north-east of the lights, and 
headed off shore. The cold now became more severe ; ther- 
mometer at eight degrees below zero throughout the day ; 
the ice constantly increasing on the vessel ; during the day, 
the rudder had frozen up ; the rigging, from its increased 
size, wholly useless : and the vessel had settled a foot by the 



A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS.- — -GURNET HEAD. 43 

head, owing to the weight of ice about the head-stays and 
rigging of the bowsprit. All hands employed throughout 
the day in endeavoring to free the vessel of ice. 

"February 3d. — During the forenoon of this day, the 
wind moderated, and hauled w'est ; all hands at w^ork beat- 
ing off ice, there being two feet of ice on deck, and the ves- 
sel unmanageable. At dark, succeeded in freeing the rudder, 
and clearing the braces, and wore ship to the south. In the 
course of the night, the wind changed to the eastward ; at 
midnight, got the topsails and courses set, judging ourselves 
in the latitude of Cape Ann, and steering accordingly. 

"February 4th, 10, A. M., the wind hauled to north-east, 
with snow, wind increasing, and extreme cold weather. At 
neon, mad« the highlands of Plymouth ; the rudder was 
again choked up with ice, and all our attempts to keep it 
clear were unsuccessful. We could now keep our course for 
Boston light, steering the brig by the braces. At this time, 
the weather was clear : and, if the wind had continued as it 
then was a few hours longer, we hoped to have been safe in 
Nantasket Roads ; but, alas ! fate decreed otherwise. At 
2, P. M., the wind hauled to north, and blew hard ; four 
of the crew badly frosted ; the vessel covered with ice, and 
deprived of the use of her rudder, working ship was out of 
the quesfion. We therefore hoisted a signal of distress, and 
bore away for Plymouth harbor. Seeing a brig at anchor in 
safety inside, we had strong hopes of assistance to enable us 
to reach the anchorage. It was now near low water, and 
the sea was breaking violently across the entrance, threaten- 
ing destruction to the vessel that approached it. We had 
no alternative, as the vessel could not be kept off shore 
more than an hour longer, and we accordingly pushed for 
the entrance. Abreast of Gurnet Head, the wind headed us 
oft', and the anchors were both let go in three fathoms water, 
the vessel striking heavy between the swells ; the land, on 
one side, was distant about half a mile, between the vessel 
and which a furious sea was breaking, which forbade all hope 
of relief from that quarter. About the same distance from 
us lay a brig, in perfect safety ; but, as the sea was making 
a fair breach over us, it was impossible for her boats to 
approach. Night w^as now fast closing upon us ; the break- 
ers were sweeping our decks, the vessel striking on the hard 



44 THE WRECK OF THE BRIG REGULATOR. 

sands, every few minutes, with a force sufficient to demolish, 
at each concussion, a vessel of ordinary construction ; the 
crew worn down by fatigue and unremitting exertions ; with 
a long and dreary night of severe suficring and anxiety be- 
fore us, with no prospect of relief till the morrow, and 
dreadful doubts whether the vessel could sustain the severe 
shocks for an hour, — rendered our situation one of the most 
painful and distressing that can be conceived. 

"As yet, the hull was unbroken and tight ; the sails were 
secured as well as circumstances would admit ; the yawl got 
out, and veered astern ; tackles got up, and hooked on the 
long-boat ; oars and buckets lashed in, and a hawser made 
fast to her, and every thing ready to get her out, if the brig 
should bilge during the night. 

''About half past 8, P. M., the flood tide made, and the 
vessel lay easy and afloat ; the wind also moderated ; and 
at midnight, we flattered ourselves that, at daylight, assist- 
ance could be rendered us from the shore and the other 
brig. As we were unable to do any thing more for the 
preservation of the vessel, the crew were suflered to relax 
awhile from their severe toils. The frozen were taken into 
the cabin, where a fire had been kept in the stove, and their 
suflerings alleviated as far as possible. A kettle of hot 
cthocolate was prepared over the stove, which refreshed and 
cheered us wonderfully ; so much so, indeed, that the brave 
fellows laughed at past toils, and fondly dwelt on the com- 
forts that were awaiting to repay them for past sufferings, 
and which their warm imaginations painted to them as almost 
within their reach. But their rejoicing was of short dura- 
tion. About 4 o'clock in the morning, the wind again in- 
creased to a gale from the north ; and, the tide at that time 
being the last of ebb, we were again in shoal water, and, 
a heavy sea tumbling in, the vessel began to strike again vi- 
olently, every shock taking us oft' our feet, and making the 
masts to swing about like reeds in the blast. After thump- 
inof in this manner for half an hour, we found she had 
bilged. The sea was, at this time, breaking over fore and 
aft; and, the long-boat being so heavy that, with our w^eak 
crew, we were unable to get her out, the maintopmast back- 
stays and the weather rigging of the foremast being cut, the 
foremast was cut awav, taking with it every spar but the 



A BOAT TRIES TO REACH THE WRECK, 45 

mainmast, which had broken off just above the eyes of the 
main rigging. Eased of this weight, the hull lay easier for 
a while ; bat the sea increasing, the work of destruction 
continued. The cables were now slipped, in the hope of 
the wreck driving higher up on the shoal, where she would 
lay less exposed to the furious sea which every moment was 
tearing her asunder. The cabin and forecastle were full oi 
water; and at daylight we found that the keel and many of 
the planks had left the vessel : she was now lying head to 
the breakers, and we a,gain attempted to get out the long- 
boat by cutting au'ay the bulwarks and stanchions, in Order 
to launch her over. But, before we could accomplish this, the 
wreck swung round broadside to, with the gangway to wind- 
ward, and the wreck of the masts and yards under the lee, 
hanging by the lee rigging, which we could not cut away ; 
therefore we were obliged to abandon our attempts in that 
direction. The flood tide was setting athwart the breakers, 
carrying the fragments of the wreck and drift stuff into 
smooth water ; and we had hoped to escape in the long- 
boat, by the help of the current, if we could have launched 
her. 

" We had now drifted to within a third of a mile of the 
brig at anchor, the crew of which had been anxious observ- 
ers of our situation all the morning, without being able to 
render us assistance. A boat had been despatched, early in 
the morning, to our relief, and approached the wreck as 
near as the sea would permit them, and lay on their oars, 
waiting for an opportunity to rescue us, should any oppor- 
tunity occur, of which there was but a faint hope. They 
were sometimes entangled in the ice, and carried a mile or 
two from us, and at other times striving to work their way 
towards the spars and fragments of the wreck which the cur- 
rent carried clear of the breakers, to see if there were any 
human beings chnging to them. 

"The sea was now breaking with such violence over us, 
that we were frequently buried beneath the fragments of 
wreck ; and noiv the angel of death hoarded the ill-fated 
bark, and began to number his victims. The first sufferer 
was a beautiful little Greek boy, about twelve years of age, 
whom I had found at Smyrna an orphan, and took as an ap- 
prentice. When the cabin began to fill with water, I brought 



46 



THE WRECK OF THE BRIG REGULATOR. 



him on deck, wrapped in a blanket, and stowed him in one 
corner of the round-house, which had resisted many heavy 
seas, and yet remained entire. The heart-rending cries of 
the poor little fellow, who was a universal favorite onboard, 
drew tears from the eyes of the hardiest, and all seemed for 
a while to forget their own sorrows in the contemplation of 
the sufferings of poor Jerome. A tremendous sea at this 




Jerome Philantro^ the Greek Orphan. 

moment boarded us ; the round-house was shivered into 
fragments, and the poor boy's agonizing shrieks were hushed 
in death. The same sea washed the long-boat overboard, 
but did not capsize her ; and she lay to leeward of the wreck, 
upright, but full of water, and out of our reach. One of the 



THE LONG-BOAT CAPSIZED. 47 

seamen was also buried beneath the ruins of the round-house, 
and perished there. The mainmast was still standing, and 
the rigging firm : to it the remainder of us now retreated. 

" The vessel was now fast breaking up ; plank and tim- 
bers were leaving her ; she had broken in two amidships, 
and every sea was reducing her to fragments. While on 
deck, with the sea continually breaking over us, and the 
water being much warmer than the air, the ice did not ac- 
cumulate on our clothes ; nor did we feel the cold as we did 
after gaining the rigging : here we were more exposed to 
the action of the air, and in a few minutes, with the sea oc- 
casionally reaching us, we resembled clods of ice more than 
human beings. About this time, a refluent sea brought the 
long-boat near the lower part of the rigging, where three 
seamen and myself were clinging; two of them threw them- 
selves into her ; the other, Augustus Tileston, a fine young 
lad from Vermont, now on his first, and, I may also add, 
his last voyage, was on the point of following them ; but, 
seeing that I had moved towards the boat, but again re- 
treated, he hesitated what to do, until, just as the last 
chance offered of reaching her, and hearing me express my 
determination not to leave the others, who were unable to 
get into the boat, he embraced my knees in an affectionate 
manner, and jumped for the boat ; in a second, she was out 
of reach again ; they now cast off or cut the hawser, and 
drifted astern. I firmly beheved they, and they alone, 
would be saved ; but, exhausted by their previous exertions, 
and chilled through by being up to their shoulders in a boat 
full of ice and water, they were unable to clear away an oar 
to keep the boat head to the sea, and were consequently 
capsized, and perished. 

'' Five were now already dead, and in their sad fate we 
had but little doubt of foreseeing our own. While in the 
rigging, I saw the poor boy Tileston wash from the opposite 
side, a stiffened corpse, and in a few moments he washed 
from the wreck, with his head jammed to a pomace. Find- 
ing that we were fast freezing in this situation, I succeeded 
in regaining a part of the quarter-deck, to keep more under 
water, and less exposed to the air : to this I was followed by 
the others, with the exception of one poor fellow, whose 
hands were badly frozen, and his fingers bent like hooks : he 



48 THE WRECK OF THE BRIG REGL'LATOR. 

had liooked one hand over a lathne, and lost his foothold ; 
consequently was dangling in the air, until a heavy sea lifted 
him, and fortunately extricated him from his singular and 
perilous situation. We were unable to lash ourselves, but 
succeeded in getting into the bight of two water-cask lash- 
ings that were around the quarter stanchions, the casks hav- 
ing washed out of them. Here we remained for about an 
hour, viewing with intense interest the movements of the 
party in the boat, who, after above five hours' fruitless exer- 
tions to rescue us, — being themselves often in imminent dan- 
ger of being carried by the ice among the breakers, or of 
freezing in the boat, the weather being extremely cold ; in 
vain forcing their way through bodies of ice, and, impelled 
by the loud supplications of their suflering brethren, ap- 
proaching even witliin the whirling foam of the breakers, but 
well knowing if they ventured farther all would be lost, — 
again retired. And oh, with what feelings of agony did we 
see them return to tlieir vessel ! yet we hoped they went for 
fresh hands ; and again we had hope, and again hope died 
'within us at seeing them leave their boat, and their places 
not taken by others. But they could not stand idle long : 
again our shouts rang in their ears, and aroused their hearts 
to greater daring. The long-boat was cleared away, and 
hoisted out ; and, after what seemed to us an age of time, 
•both boats shoved off again to our rescue. 

" In the mean time, tlie wreck was fast disappearing, 
breaking up, or settling in the sand ; and, expecting that the 
next wave would send us all into eternity, with what awful 
suspense did we await their motions ! They approached with 
both boats to within about one hundred yards of us, — nearer 
to the terrific breakers they could not approach and live, — and 
there they awaited the result. In about half an hour, and 
when we were satisfied that no boat could reach us unless 
the sea fell, — and nothing short of a miracle could have ef- 
fected that before we had all frozen to death, — and I had 
made up my mind that man could not save its, a cake of ice, 
drifting by the wreck to windward, kept the sea from break- 
ing for perhaps eight or ten minutes. They seized the op- 
portunity, pulled in with the long-boat, and we threw our- 
selves into her, cleared the breakers in safety, and soon Ibund 
ourselves in the comfortable cabin of the brig Cervantes of 



GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 49 

Boston, Captain Kendrick, and receiving all the kindness 
and attention that humanity could suggest. 

" To the intrepid and daring perseverance of these hu- 
mane men, under God, we owe our lives. We were utterly 
helpless when taken off; the ice had accumulated on our 
clothes to such a degree that we could not bend a joint ; we 
felt the blood freezing in our veins, and nature fast ex- 
hausting. Our deliverance was unlooked for, and truly 
providential. 

" The next morning, when the Cervantes got under weigh 
for Boston, nothing was to be seen of the wreck but some 
of the floor-timber-heads sticking out of the flats at low 
water. The spot where the Regulator was lost is a sunken 
island, called Brown's Island, of great extent, over which the 
sea breaks with dreadful violence. 

"On the morning of the 7th, the survivors were landed at 
Rainsford Island, in Boston harbor, where they experienced 
every attention and care that their wants required, or hospi- 
tality could bestow; and for the kindness of Mr. Minot and 
his excellent family, and the medical care of Dr. J. V. C. 
Smith, the survivors feel under deep obligations of grati- 
tude. 

" The names of those who perished were as follow : — 
George Dryden, Daniel Canton, Augustus Tileston, John 
Smith, seamen ; Jerome Philantro, boy. — The survivors 
were much frozen and bruised. The first mate and one 
man have since had all the fingers of their left hands 
amputated. 

" The Humane Society of Boston bestowed gold medals 
and money on the oflicers and prew of the Cervantes ; and 
the citizens of Boston, with their accustomed liberality, 
subscribed six hundred dollars for the relief of the mates 
and surviving seamen of the Regulator.'' 




THE SINGULAR PRESERVATION 

OF 

JAMES BROCK, THE BEACHMAN, 

Who AYas capsized in a Yawl off Yarmouth, on the 
Eastern Coast of England, and his Providential 
Rescue, after swimming more than Fourteen Miles, 
Octoher, 1835. 

MONGST the sons of labor, there are 
none more deserving of their hard earn- 
ings than that class of persons denomi 
nated Beachmen, on the shores of Great 
Britain. To those unacquainted with 
maritime affairs, it may be as well to ob- 
serve, that these men are bred to the sea 
from their earliest infancy ; are employed in the summer 
months very frequently as regular sailors or fishermen ; and 
during the autumn, winter, and spring, when gales are most 
frequent on that coast, in going off in boats to vessels in 
distress, in all weathers, to the imminent risk of their lives ; 
fishing up lost anchors and cables, and looking out for waifs, 
i. e. any thing abandoned or wrecked, which the winds and 
weaves may have cast in their way. In the seaports, those 
persons are usually divided into companies, between whom 
the greatest rivalry exists in regard to the beauty and swift- 
ness of their boats, and their dexterity in managing them : 
this too often leads to feats of the greatest daring, which 
the widow and orphan have long to deplore. To one of 
these companies, known by the name of " Layton's," whose 
rendezvous and "look-out" is close to Yarmouth Jetty, 
Brock belongs, and in pursuit of his calling the following 
event is recorded. 

About one o'clock, P. M., on the 6th of October, 1835, 
a vessel was observed at sea, from this station, with a signal 




^ ASSISTANCE GIVEN TO THE SPANISH BRIG. 51 

flying for a pilot, bearing east, distant about twelve miles. 
In a space of time incredible to those who have not wit- 
nessed the launching of a large boat on a like occasion, the 
yawl '' Increase," eighteen tons burthen, belonging to Lay- 
ton's gang, with ten men and a London Branch Pilot, was 
under weigh, steering for the object of their enterprise. " I 
was as near as possible being left ashore," said Brock to me, 
" for, at the time the boat was getting down to the breakers, 
I was looking at Manby's apparatus for saving the lives of 
persons on a wreck, then practising ; and but for the ' singing 
out' of my messmates, which caught my ear, should have 
been too late ; but I reached in time to jump in with wet 
feet." 

About four o'clock, they came up with the vessel, which 
proved to be a Spanish brig, Paquette de Bilboa, laden with 
a general cargo, and bound from Hamburgh to Cadiz, leaky, 
and both pumps at work. After a great deal of chaffering 
and haggling in regard to the amount of salvage, — always 
the case with foreigners, — and some little altercation with 
part of the boat's crew, as to which of them should stay 
with the vessel, T. Layton, a Gatt pilot, J. Woolsey, and 
George Darling, boatmen, were finally chosen to assist in 
pumping and piloting her into Yarmouth harbor: the re- 
mainder of the crew of the yawl were then sent away. 
The brig, at this time, was about five miles to the eastward 
of the Newarp Floating Light, off Winterton, on the Norfolk 
coast, the weather looking squally. On passing the light, in 
their homeward course, a signal was made for them to go 
alongside, and they were requested to take on shore a sick 
man ; and, the poor fellow being comfortably placed upon 
some jackets and spare coats, they again shoved off, and set 
all sail, three lugs : they had a fresh breeze from the west- 
south-west. And now, again, my readers shall have Brock's 
own words : — 

" There was little better than a pint of liquor in the boat, 
which the Spaniard had given us, and the bottle had passed 
once round, each man taking a mouthful, and about half of 
it was thus consumed ; most of us had got a bit of bread or 
biscuit in his hand, making a sort of light meal, and into 
the bargain I had hold of the main sheet. We had passed 
the buoy of the Newarp a few minutes, and the light was 



52 THE ESCAPE OF BROCK, THE BEACHMAN. 

about two miles astern ; we had talked of our job, — i. e. our 
earnings, — and had thus calculated that by ten o'clock we 
should be at Yarmouth." 

"Alas ! nor wife nor children more shall they behold, 
Nor friends, nor sacred home." 

Without the slightest notice of its approach, a terrific 
squall from the northward took the yawl's sails flat aback, 
and the ballast, which they had trimmed to windward, 
being thus suddenly changed to leeward, she was upset 
in an instant. Her crew and passenger were nine in 
number. 

"Then rose from sea to sky the v/ild farewell." 

But perhaps Brock's words on the occasion will excite 
more interest than Byron's. '•' 'Twas terrible to listen to 
the cries of the poor fellows, some of whom could swim, and 
others who could not: mixed with the hissing of the water 
and the bowlings of the storm, I heard shrieks for mercy, 
and some that had no meaning but what arose from fear. 
I struck out to get clear of the crowd, and in a few minutes 
there was no noise, for most of the men had sunk ; and, on 
turning round, I saw the boat was still kept from going 
down, by the wind having got under her sails. I then 
swam back to her, and assisted an old man to get hold of 
one of her spars. The boat's side was about three feet 
under water, and for a few minutes I stood upon her ; but I 
found she was gradually settling down, and when up to my 
chest I again left her and swam away ; and now, for the first 
time, I began to think of my own awful condition. My com- 
panions were all drowned, — at least I supposed so. How 
long it was up to this period, from the boat's capsizing, I 
cannot exactly say ; in such cases, sir, there is no time ; but 
now I reflected that it was half past six, P. M., just before 
the accident occurred ; that the nearest land at the time was 
six miles distant ; that it was dead low water, and the flood 
tide setting off the shore, making to the southward ; there- 
fore, should I ever reach the land, it would take me at least 
fifteen miles setting up with the flood, before the ebb would 
assist me." 

At this moment, a rush horse collar, covered with old net- 



DISENCUMBERS HIMSELF OF CLOTHING. 53 

ting, which had been used as one of the boat's fenders, float- 
ed close to him, which he laid hold of, and getting his knife 
out, he stripped it of the net work, and, by putting his left 
arm through it, was supported till he had cut the waistband 
of his petticoat trousers, which then fell off: his striped frock, 
waistcoat, and neckcloth, were also similarly got rid off; but 
he dared not try to free himself of his oiled trousers, draw- 
ers, or shirt, fearing that his legs might become entangled in 
the attempt : he therefore returned his knife into the pocket 
of his trousers, and put the collar over his head, which, 
although it assisted in keeping him above water, retarded 
his swimming, and, after a few moments thinking what was 
best to be done, he determined to abandon it. He now, to 
his great surprise, perceived one of his messmates swimming 
ahead of him, but he did not hail him. The roar of the 
hurricane was past ; the cries of drowning men were no 
longer heard ; and the moonbeams were casting their silvery 
light over the smooth surface of the deep, calm and silent as 
the grave over which he floated, and into which he saw this 
last of his companions descend, without a struggle or a cry, 
as he approached within twenty yards of him. Yes, he be- 
held the last of his brave crew die beside him ; and now he 
was alone in the cold, silent loneliness of night, more awful 
than the strife of the elements which had preceded. Per- 
haps, at this time, something might warn him that he, too, 
would soon be mingled with the dead, 

"With not one friend to animate, and tell 
To others' ears that death became him well." 

But if such thoughts did intrude, they were but for a mo- 
ment ; and again his mental energies, joined with his lion 
heart and bodily prowess, cast away all fear, and he reck- 
oned the remotest possible chances of deliverance, applying 
the means, 

" Courage and hope both teaching him the practice." 

Up to this time, Winterton Light had served, instead of a 
landmark, to direct his course ; but the tide had now carried 
him out of sight of it, and in its stead, " a bright star stood 
over where " his hopes of safety rested. With his eyes 

5* 



54 



THE ESCAPE OF BROCK, THE BEACHMAN. 



steadfastly fixed upon it, he continued swimming on, calcu» 
lating the time when the tide would turn. But h'is trials 
were not yet past. As if to prove the power of human 
fortitude, the sky became suddenly overclouded, and " dark- 
ness was upon the face of the deep." He no longer knew 
his course, and he confessed that for a moment he was 
afraid ; yet he felt that " fear is but the betraying of the 
succors which reason offereth ; " and that which roused him 
to further exertion would seal the fate of almost any other 
human being. A sudden, short, crackling peal of thunder 
burst in stunning loudness just over his head, and the forked 
and flashing lightning, at brief intervals, threw its vivid fires 
around him. This, too, in its turn, passed away, and left 
the wave once more calm and unruffled ; the moon, nearly 
full, again threw a more brilliant light upon the bosom of 
the sea, which the storm had gone over without waking from 
its slumbers. His next effort was to free himself from his 
heavy laced boots, which greatly encumbered him, and in 
which he succeeded, by the aid of his knife. He now saw 
Lowestoff High Lighthouse, and could occasionally discern 
the tops of the cliffs beyond Gorlestone, on the Suffolk 
coast. The swell of the sea drove him over the Cross Sand 
Ridge, and he then got sight of a buoy, which, although it 
told him his exact position, as he says, took him rather aback, 
as he had hoped he was nearer the shore. It proved to be 




The Chequered Buoy of St. Nicholas Gait. 

the chequered buoy of St. Nicholas Gatt, off Yarmouth, and 
opposite his own door, but distant from the land four miles. 
And now again he held counsel with himself, and the ener- 



ANNOYED BY GULLS. 55 

gles of his mind seem almost superhuman ; he had been five 
hours in the water, and here was something to hold on by ; 
he could even have got upon the buoy, and some vessel 
might come near to pick him up, and the question was, 
Could he yet hold out four miles ? " But," as he said, " I 
knew the night air would soon finish me, and, had I staid 
but a few minutes upon it, and then altered my mind, how 
did I know that my limbs would again resume their oflice ? " 
He found the tide, to use a sea term, v^^as broke ; it did not 
run so strong ; so he abandoned the buoy, and steered for 
the land, toward which, with the wind from the eastward, 
he found he was fast approaching. The last trial of his 
fortitude was now at hand, for which he was totally unpre- 
pared, and which he considers, — sailors being not a little 
superstitious, — the most difficult of any he had to combat. 
Soon after he left the buoy, he heard just above his head a 
whizzing sound, which his imagination conjured into the 
prelude to the " rushing of a mighty wind ; " and close to his 
ear there followed a smart splash in the water, and a sudden 
shriek, that went through him, — such as is heard 

"When the lone sea-bird wakes its wildest cry," 

The fact was, a large gray gull, mistaking him for a corpse, 
had made a dash at him ; and its loud discordant scream in 
a moment brought a countless number of these formidable 
birds together, all prepared to contest for and share the 
spoil. 

"The eagle soars alone; the gull and crow 
Flock o'er their carrion just as mortals do." 

These large and powerful foes he had now to scare from 
their intended prey ; and by shouting and splashing with his 
hands and feet, in a few minutes they vanished from sight 
and hearing. 

He now caught sight of a vessel at anchor, but a great 
Way off; and, to get within hail of her. he must swim over 
Gorton Sands, the grave of thousands, the breakers at this 
time showing their angry white crests. As he approached, 
the wind suddenly changed ; the consequence of which was 
that the swell of the sea met him. And now, again, for his 
own description : — 



56 THE ESCAPE OF BROCK, THE BEACHMAN. 

*' I got a great deal of water down my throat, which 
greatly weakened me ; and I felt certain that, should this 
continue, it would soon be all over ; and I prayed that the 
wind might change, or that God would take away my senses 
before I felt what it was to drown. In less time than I am 
telling you, I had driven over the sands into smooth water ; 
the ivind and swell came again from the eastward, and my 
streno^th returned to me as fresh as in the beoinninoj." 

He now felt assured that he could reach the shore ; but 
he considered it would be better to get within hail of the 
brig, some distance to the southward of him, and the most 
difficult task of the two, as the ebb tide was now running, 
which, although it carried him towards the land, set to the 
northward ; and to gain the object of his choice would 
require much greater exertion. But here comes Brock 
again : — 

" If I gained the shore, could I get out of the surf, which 
at this time was heavy on the beach ? and, supposing I suc- 
ceeded in this point, should I be able to walk, climb the 
cliffs, and get to a house ? If not, there was little chance of 
life remaining long in me ; but if I could make myself heard 
on board the brig, then I should secure immediate assistance. 
I got within tw^o hundred yards of her, the nearest possible 
approach, and, summoning all my strength, I sung out as 
well as if I had been on shore." 

"The seamen's cry was heard along the deep." 

He was answered from the deck, a boat was instantly low- 
ered, and at half past one, A. M., having swam seven hours 
in an October night, he was safe on board the brig Betsy 
of Sunderland, coal laden, at anchor in Gorton Roads, four- 
teen miles from the spot where the boat was capsized. The 
captain's name was Ghristian. 

Once safe on board, " Nature cried Enough ; " he fainted, 
and continued insensible for some time. All that humanity 
could suggest was done for him by Ghristian and his crew : 
they had no spirits on board, but they had bottled ale, which 
they made warm, and by placing Brock before a good fire, 
rubbing him dry, and putting him in hot blankets, he was 
at length with great difficulty enabled to get a little of the 
ale down his throat ; but it caused excruciating pain, as his 



HE REACHES HOME IN SAFETY. 



57 



throat was in a state of high inflammation, from breathing, 
as a swimmer does, so long the sahne particles of sea and 
air ; and it was now swollen very much, and, as he says, he 
feared he should be suffocated. He, however, after a little 
time, fell into a sleep, which refreshed and strengthened 
him ; but he awoke to intense bodily suffering. Round his 
neck and chest he was perfectly flayed ; the soles of his feet, 
his hands, and his hamstrings, were also equally excoriated. 
In this state, at about nine o'clock, A. M., the brig getting 
under way with the tide, he w^as put on shore at Lowestoff, 
in Suftblk, and immediately despatched a messenger to Yar- 
mouth, with the sad tidings of the fate of the yawl and the 
rest of the crew. 

Being now safely housed under the roof of a relative, 
with good nursing and medical assistance, in five days from 
the time of the accident, with a firm step he walked back 
to Yarmouth, to confirm the wonderful rumors circulated 
respecting him, and to receive the congratulations of his 
friends and kindred 




A DETAILED JOURNAL 



OF THE PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD OF THE STEAM-PACKET 




WHICH SPRUNG A-LEAK OFF CAPE HATTERAS 



With a melancholy Account of her s^ibsequent Loss 
on Ocracoke Island, off the Coast of North Caro- 
lina, Octoher, 1837. 



E introduce this narrative with the follow- 
ing eloquent extract from the funeral 
discourse of the Rev. Mr. Smyth, ad- 
dressed to the inhabitants of Charleston, 
S. C. 

'^ We have been called upon, my 
brethren, to hear, during the past week, 
a tale of no ordinary sadness, and to witness calamity of no 
common or usual endurance. No enemy has been among 
us, to lay waste and destroy. No plague or pestilence have 
stalked through our city, brandishing around them the sword 
of death. Famine has not opened her wide and hungry 
jaws wdth earthquake rapacity. No hurricane has burst 




PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 59 

upon US with the fury of a midnight assassin, nor has the 
thunder's bolt riven our peaceful habitations. None of 
these things have happened. There has been among us 
neither open enemy, nor plague, pestilence, or famine, nor 
yet the fury of the whirlwind and the thunder. 

" Whence, then, that pall of sadness which has covered 
this entire community ? Whence that deep and universal ^ 
sympathy which has taken possession of every heart? 
Whence that eager, anxious solicitude to hear fresh tidings 
of alarm? Whence those sounds of lamentation, and 
weeping, and great mourning — parents weeping for their 
children, and wives for their husbands, and friends for their 
relatives, and all refusing to be comforted because they are 
not.* One subject has entered into every conversation, 
and suggested the inquiry to every meeting friend. What 
news of the boat ? sounded from every parlor. What news 
of the boat? was heard in every dwelling, and at the corner 
of every street. 

"And now we have subsided into the certain and un- 
questionable belief, that about ninety individuals, several 
of them our feUow-townsmen, and all of them our country- 
men, have been swallowed upas in a m.oment, in the twin- 
kling of an eye, and perished in the mighty waters. The 
flood opened and they sunk like lead into its depths. And 
the sea returned in his strength and overthrew them, and 
the waters covered them — there remained not so much as 
one of all that hapless number. They now lie cold and 
stiff in death, buried by the sea-shore, where the roar of its 
illimitable waters will chant their funereal dirge. There 
they alike repose, having lain down together, to wake no 
more until they hear that trumpet's voice, which will arouse 
the dull, cold ear of death. There are the old and the 
young — the infirm and the robust — the rich and they 
who struggled hard in the toils of life. There is the 

* The individuals belonging to Charleston, who were lost, were, Madame 
Boudo, Madame Reviere, Mrs. Hussey, Mrs. .Levy, Miss F. Levy, Miss O. 
Levy, Mrs. Flinn, and two children ; Messrs. P. S. Cohen, H. A. Cohrs, 
S. G. Fuller, H. M. Tileston, and Williman. To these may be added the 
names of Hardy B. Croom, (formerly of Newbern, N. C.,) and his interest- 
ing family, who were intending to make Charleston their future residence, 
viz., Mrs. Croom, Miss Croom, Miss J. Croom, Master Croom, and Mrs. 
Camack, a relative. 



60 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

mother and her infant babe — the husband and liis long- 
tried bosom partner — the friend and the friendless. And 
there, too, are the talented and accomplished. One grave 
protects them ; the same earth covers them ; past them will 
flow the same waters, and around them will howl the same 
wintry tempests. 

*' One fortnight since, and how many hearts, now stiffened 
in death, beat high with expectation ! One fortnight since, 
and how many homes now desolate, and forever to remain 
so, were filled with the hope and the promise of anticipated 
delight ! Separations were to be soon terminated, and torn 
hearts bound up. The social circle was soon to be enli- 
vened, and its vacant chairs filled up by their accustomed 
tenants. The festivities and merriment of the approaching 
season were already wakened up ; and forms now vanished 
were seen rejoicing amid the splendors of the scene. 

*' My brethren, we can see this multitude of fellow-beings, 
as they crowded on board that packet which was to restore 
them to their own sweet homes. We can accompany them, 
as they cheerfully endured all the trials of their way, in the 
glad promise of a speedy voyage. We can enter into their 
fears, as they heard the wind roar around them, preluding 
storm and tempest. We can sympathize Vv^ith their distress, 
when they saw the curling, topping waves roll on the in- 
creasing fury of the gale, and the darkening heavens shut 
out the cheerful light of sun, and moon, and stars. We 
can weep w^ith them, when they remembered home, and 
children, and friends, and felt that they were theirs, proba- 
bly, no more. We can more than fancy their anguish, 
when the ship began to yield to the strokes of the battering 
waves; when the water, no longer kept without, forced its 
entrance ; when they were driven from their cabins, now 
filling with the devouring element ; when the machinery, 
enveloped in the moist waters, could no longer play ; when 
their failing strength was no more able to keep at bay the 
advancing flood ; when the lowering shades of night deep- 
ened the gloom of the tempest ; and when, in the hopeless- 
ness of relief, they welcomed the fearful hazard of running 
themselves ashore, amidst the breakers, and taking chance 
among the ruins of the shattered hull. 

" But who can paint the scene of misery which now pre- 



DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK. 61 

sented itself? Who can conceive the horrors of that awful 
hour, when, having struck the shore, a multitude were at 
once swept by the irresistible billows into the dark and 
foaming ocean ; when the boat, filled with those who were 
wilhng to make trial of the fearful hazard, was seen empty- 
ing its contents into the insatiate waters ; when, amid the 
sepulchral tolling of the bell, the ship herself was seen rap- 
idly cleaving in pieces before the omnipotence of the storm ; 
and, one after another, was torn from his place of fancied 
security, and whirled into the eddying rush of waters? This 
is a scene Vv^hich fancy may attempt to picture, but which 
cannot be truly imagined even by the fevered mind of those 
who were so wonderfully delivered from it." 

On Saturday, the 7th October, 1837, at four o'clock, P. 
M., the steam-packet Home, commanded by Captain White, 
left New York for Charleston, S. C. Her company con- 
sisted of between eighty and ninety passengers, and forty- 
three of the boat's crew, including the officers ; making in 
all about one hundred and thirty persons. The weather was 
fine, with a light breeze from the south-west. To shorten 
the distance, a skilful pilot took her through the Buttermilk 
Channel, and left her after passing Governor's Island. 

Captain White says, "I now called an experienced helms- 
man to the wheel ; with whom I remained until we had 
passed two of the New Buoys, which we left some distance 
to the eastward. Before coming to the Second Buoy, how- 
ever, and at a quarter past five o'clock, P. M., the steward 
had applied to me for the silver, and a list of passengers, to 
enable him to set the table for tea, vrhich were both in my 
office. I told him to wait until we had passed the Second 
Buoy ; and, after passing it, gave the helmsman directions 
to keep the boat headed direct for the lighthouse, as she 
was then going. The mate at this moment was engaged in 
slacking the lanyards of the braces of the smoke-chimneys, 
about ten feet from the helmsman. After examining the 
list of passengers, &c., on leaving the office, found that the 
boat headed off to the eastward, and the headway nearly 
stopped. I then ran up to the man at the wheel, and or- 
dered the helm hard a-port : he ansv/ered, ' The helm is 
hard a-port, sir, but she won't mind her helm.' By this 
time the boat had entirely stopped on the Romer Shoal ; 
6 



62 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

the ebb tide setting strong to the eastward, and a Hght west- 
erly wind, to which cause I attribute the grounding of the 
boat. At this time the engine was working forward. The 
engineer inquired whether he should continue to work her 
so, or back her off. I ordered him to keep on, under the 
impression that she was so near the eastern edge of the 
shoal that she would go over ; but finding that she did not 
go ahead, I ordered him to back her off; at the same time 
ordered the wood and cable to be shifted to the larboard 
side, in order to list the boat ; in ba(5king her, found she 
slued a little, but would not work off the shoal. There was 
now no alternative, but to remain until the tide rose. The 
passengers, at tea, made many inquiries as to any danger 
from being aground ; apprehended none myself, as the water 
was entirely smooth, and wind light. I endeavored to make 
them easy. About seven, P. M., we were boarded by a Sandy 
Hook pilot, Joshua Manwaring, who coincided in the opinion 
that the boat could receive no injury where she lay, until 
she should float. He inquired if he could be of any service ; 
I replied, that as he was on board, I preferred that he should 
remain until we had passed the Hook. At half past ten 
o'clock, P. M., the tide having risen, the square-sail was 
hoisted and laid aback ; we started the engine, and succeed- 
ed in backing her off, having the flood tide to aid us. 

"Then proceeded on our course past the Hook ; and about 
a quarter past eleven o'clock the pilot left us for town. The 
boat and machinery appearing to be in good order, we made 
rapid progress ; and were abreast of Barnegat light on 
Sunday, between four and five o'clock, A. M. We con- 
tinued with fine weather until towards noon, when the wind 
hauled north-east, with indications of a storm. In the after 
part of the day, the wind increased, occasioning a heavy 
sea. Between seven and eight o'clock, P. M., Mr. Hunt, 
the chief engineer, informed me that the feeder-pipe of the 
forward boiler had opened at the joint, so that it forced 
more of the water into the hold than into the boiler ; con- 
sequently there was not a supply for that boiler : we then 
run with one boiler, and set the square-sail. I inquired if 
he could repair the pipe at sea ; to which he answered that 
it was possible, if we kept the vessel off before the wind 
and sea, I accordingly put her before the wind, which both 



ENGINE REPAIRED. COURSE RESUMED, 63 

eased the vessel and enabled me to near the mouth of Ches- 
apeake Bay, in case it should become necessary to make a 
harbor. About midnight, the chief engineer reported to me 
that he had succeeded in repairing the feeder-pipe ; and 
then we again put both boilers in operation, and resumed 
our course for Charleston, continuing, occasionally, to heave 
the lead, shoaling the water gradually, from twenty to eleven 
fathoms. When we got into eleven fathoms, at four o'clock, 
A. M., the mat€ and his watch were called ; we took in the 
square-sail, and hauled her course to south-south-east, this 
being the course along the land ; we continued this course 
until seven o'clock, at which time it lighted up a little, and 
we saw the land about fifty miles to the northward of Hat- 
teras. The gale continuing to increase, I ordered the second 
mate, Mr. White, to reef the jib and foresail, to have them 
ready for use if we should want them. At about nine 
o'clock, A. M., on Monday, the second engineer, Mr. Conro, 
came to me at the Vv^heel-house, and reported that the boilers 
had given out, and said^ ' We can do nothing more for you 
with steam.' 

'' The land being then in sight, I ordered the jib and fore- 
sail set, and headed the vessel in for shore, with the inten- 
tion of beaching her. I ordered the reef turned out of the 
foresail, and then went down to the chief engineer, Mr. 
Hunt, in the engine-room, and asked him whether the boilers 
had indeed given out ; he replied, ' No, it is the feeder- 
pipe,' which had again started ; and that the report of the 
second engineer arose from a mistake of the fireman, Mr. 
Hunt having 'woulded' the joint again, I asked him 
whether it would stand to w^ork the boat off shore ; he 
answered, yes, that he thought it would. I then ordered 
him to fire up, and to get more steam on, to force her ofT 
shore ; I then returned to the wheel-house, and ordered the 
foresail taken in, and again hauled the vessel off shore to 
resume our former course. Before we got to the Wimble 
Shoals, when I was at the wheel-house, I observed Mr. 
Lovegreen very busy about the small boat on the after upper 
deck. I went aft to see what he was doing ; he told me he 
* was getting the boats ready for launching, in case we 
should want them, and was fixing hfe-lines and lashing the 
oars in the boat.' I said, ' Very well, sir, but cast ofi' nojie 
of the lashingsJ 



64 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOMjC. 

*'In consequence of running in, for the purpose of beach- 
ing her, as above stated, we were brought within the Wim- 
ble Shoals. In passing these shoals, we received the shock 
of three heavy rollers on our larboard beam, which stove 
in our after gangway, several of the larboard state-room 
windows, and one of the dining-room windows. Mr. 
Matthews, about this time, remarked, ' We are through 
this.' I answered, ' Yes, ive are over thai part of it^ 
meaning the passing of the shoals. Captain Hill, a pas- 
senger, came to the forward deck and hailed me, to know 
whether ' we had not better knock away the forward bul- 
warks, that the sea might have a fair breach over her,' as 
he was afraid that we might ship some of those seas and 
fill the deck and cabin. I told him there was no necessity 
for it, as some of the boards had already been burst oiF; 
however, I had no objection to his knocking off some more, 
if he chose to do it; he did knock off some of the boards, 
and with the assistance of the steward, Mr. Milne, un- 
shipped the starboard gangway. 

" During this time our course was south-south-east to south- 
east; and finding the vessel pressed too much to leeward, I 
ordered the jib to be taken in. About this period Captain 
Salter, of Portsmouth, N. H., a passenger, came on the for- 
ward deck and hailed me, I being at the wheel-house on the 
upper deck, and said, ' Captain White, had not some of us 
better look out for some place to beach her ? ' I answered, 
' No, Captain Salter, I do not intend to beach her yet, nor 
as long as I can keep off shore.' He expressed his sur- 
prise, and replied, ' No ! Do you think you can work her 
off? ' I answered, ' Yes'^ Between two and three o'clock, 
P. M., Mr. Hunt, the engineer, sent to the wheel-house for 
me ; I went to the engine-room ; he told me that ' the boat 
had commenced leaking badly.' I asked if it were not 
possible to keep her free v/ith the engine-pumps. He said, 
' You had better send men to the hand-pumps, and perhaps 
we may then keep her free.' I ordered the mate to send 
men to the pumps, which was immediately done. I then 
returned to the wheel-house. 

"About this time Captains Salter and Hill came on the 
forward deck, and asked me if I would not get a light, and 
go down with them and try to find the leak. I ordered a 



A SEARCH FOR THE LEAK. 65 

lantern and marlin-spike, which were brought. I then went 
down into the forward cabin with them, took up the floor 
scuttles, went down into the hold, found 710 water over the 
platform, broke some holes in the platform with the marlin- 




The Home shipping- a tremendous Sea near die Wimble Slioals. 

spike, and then found ?io ivnfer. Whilst in the fore-hold, 
Captain Salter remarked that the boat ' was ceiled with 
nothing but thin, common pine plank, whereas she should 
have been ceiled throughout with seven inch oak timber, 
6* 



66 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

champered down to the edges.' We then returned to the 
deck, and went to the after cabin, where they proceeded to 
open the scuttle, and I returned to the wheel-house. I now 
ordered the mates to set the crew to baihng from the engine- 
room. The passengers now scuttled the after cabin floor, 
and commenced taking out the coal for the purpose of bail- 
ing, as they had previously found water aft. At this time 
the water was gaining on the pumps ; some of the pas- 
sengers and waiters went on to bailing from the after cabin. 
The water, in front of the furnaces, having risen several 
inches in depth, washed the coals about, by the rolling of 
the vessel, rendering it impracticable to feed the fires with 
coal. I therefore directed the mate to have wood passed 
along, as we would keep steam up altcJgether with wood, 
which we continued to burn until tlie water quenched the 
fires in the furnaces. About three o'clock, P. M., Captain 
Salter again came to the forward deck, and said, ' Captain 
White, we had better go around Hatteras Shoals, and not 
attempt to go through inside.' 

" Whilst the passengers and crew were at work with the 
pumps and buckets, I frequently went down to see that they 
continued at work. In passing the engine-room I remarked 
to Mr. Hunt, ' If we can keep the water down, so as not to 
reach the furnaces, I think we will go round the shoals ; as 
the risk would be greater in going inside.' My reason for 
this conclusion was, that if, in an attempt to pass inside, 
with such a heavy sea and thick weather, the vessel should 
strike, probably every life would be lost. I again went up 
to the wheel-house, and Mr. Matthews asked me, ' if I was 
going round the shoals.' I answered in the affirmative. 
Captain Salter now came forward and said, ' it was the best 
way to track the shoals around by the lead.' We had all 
along been occasionally Heaving the lead, and had from nine 
to eleven fathoms water. I continued to run so as to pass 
the outer shoal, until I deepened the water from eleven to 
twenty fathoms, and hauling up her course gradually to the 
south-west, until we judged ourselves round the shoals ; then 
hauled up by degrees until we brought her up to a north- 
north-west course, for the purpose of getting under the lee 
of the shoals, believing that, as we got into smooth water, 
the leak would decrease, and that we should be enabled to 



THE VESSEL BECOMES WATER-LOGGED. 67 

run up under the lee of Cape Hatteras. The leak con- 
tinued to gain upon us, and I soon after altered our course 
to north-west, and ordered the jib to be set. After heading 
her for the land, at the solicitation of Mr. Matthews, I left 
him in charge, and went to my room to get some rest. I 
examined one of my charts, threw off my wet coat, sat 
down on my trunk, and leaned my head against the berth ; 
but after remaining some time, found it impossible to get 
any rest. I went on deck and proceeded aft, where I found 
the water was fast gaining on us. I then went to the wheel- 
house and took my trumpet ; the crew and passengers being 
still occupied in bailing and pumping, and the engine-pumps 
workino;, althousfh these often had to be cleared of the 
shavings, &c., which the suction drew in ; but we had to 
depend mostly upon the hand-pumps and barling. About 
eight o'clock, P. M., Mr. Hunt came to me at the wheel- 
house, and told me that the ' furnace fires were out.' 

"All hope was now abandoned of making a harbor under 
the lee of Hatteras ; and our only alternative was to run 
her on shore, for the purpose of saving our lives. I then 
directed the mate to have the square-sail set, to press her 
in to the land. In a few minutes the lee leach of the 
square-sail split from foot to head, and it was lowered 
down. The vessel being water-logged, we consequently 
made but slow progress towards the shore. The weather 
became more moderate. Shortly after, I went below to my 
room and put on my pea jacket ; went aft, and saw them 
bailing and pumping. Whilst passing among the passen- 
gers, some of them asked me if there was a probability of 
their being saved. I replied, that I feared the chance was 
but small ; as the boats would be of no service, and that 
there must be a heavy surf running on the beach which we 
were approaching. I then walked to the after starboard 
quarter-deck, and hove the lead, and found nine fathoms 
water ; I laid the lead in, and remained by the rail, thinking 
of our condition, and calculating our chances for our lives. 
I now went forward, and in passing the dining-room (which 
was on deck and over the after cabin) door, saw the ladies 
and many of the gentlemen sitting in there, and in great 
distress and anxiety. This was the last time I went aft on 
the lower deck. I then passed on by the entrance to the 



68 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

after cabin ; I found the stairway completely occupied with 
men in passing up water. I then passed forward, and went 
up to the wheel-house : by this time we were not far from 
the shore. 

"About ten o'clock Mr. Matthews, then standing on the 
lower deck, asked me if I meant to put her head on ; I 
answered, ' Yes, certainly.' Some one now ran forward, 
and called out that the water was over the cabin floor. 
Captain Salter cried out, ' Bail away, bail away, boys.' 
Captain Salter also asked Mr, Matthews if the boats were 
all clear, that they might be all lowered away without con- 
fusion, after she struck. Mr. Matthews said, ' The boats 
are all ready.' We now made the breakers on the star- 
board bow and ahead. Mr. Matthews was standing for- 
ward, and said, ' Off the starboard bow it looks like a good 
place to beach her.' I ordered Trost, the man at the helm, 
to port his helm; and said to him, 'Mind yourself; stand 
clear of that wheel when she strikes, or she will be breaking 
your bones ; ' he answered, ' Yes, sir, Fll keep clear.' 

"The boat immediately struck on the outer reef^ slued her 
Iiead to the northward; the square-sail caught aback; she 
heeled offshore, exposing the deck and upper houses to the 
full force of the sea. The square-sail halyards were let go, 
but the sail would not come down, as it was hard aback 
against the mast and rigging ; it had previously been split, 
and was now blown to ribbons. The passengers, ladies and 
gentlemen, placed themselves along the in-shore side of the 
boat, seeking protection from the breaking of the sea. At 
this time Mr. Matthew^s came up to me, on the upper deck, 
and asked me if I was going in the boats ; I replied, ' No ; 
I think there is no possibility of any person being saved in 
them, but you had better go aft and see to the launching 
them.' He went aft on the upper deck, and I saw them 
launching the large boat off of it. The larboard quarter 
boat having been lowered before and upset, they succeeded 
in getting the large boat alongside ; many of the passengers, 
and both mates, got into her, several others clinging to her 
gunwales ; she upset before she had gone ten yards from 
the vessel. The starboard quarter-boat had been previously 
stove, as well as the houses and bulwarks on that side. I 
went forward, pulled off my pea jacket, vest, and boots, and 



THE BREAKING UP OF THE VESSEL. 69 

threw them into the door of the wheel-house ; then went a 
few feet aft, unshipped a small ladder, found a strand of 
rope lying on the deck, made one end of it fast around the 
middle step, took the other end around my hand, then 
placed myself on the forward part of. the upper deck, took 
hold of a chimney-brace with the other hand, awaiting the 
event of the breaking up of the vessel. 

"About the time I went aft, as above stated, the mast had 
gone about twenty feet from the head. The boat was now 
fast breaking to pieces — the dining-cabin gone — the star- 
board state-rooms all stove in — upper deck breaking up. 
Whilst standing with the ladder in my hand, Mr. Hunt 
came up to me. I said, ' Mr. Hunt, we little thought this 
would be our fate when we left New York.' I shook 
hands with him, and added, ' I hope we may all be saved.' 
He turned and went to the gallows frame, where there were 
many others collected with him. The forward smoke chim- 
ney fell in shore, across the side houses on the upper deck, 
close by where I was standing. Mr. Flolmes, a passenger 
saved, was standing by me with a piece of board and rope, 
prepared to jump. The most of the passengers, who had 
placed themselves along the guards, had, by this time, been 
washed off; their shrieks and cries, during this time, were 
appalling and heart-rending beyond description. The 
deck, on which Mr. Holmes and myself were standing, was 
breaking up ; we threw away our ladder and board simul- 
taneously, and jumped off the deck, and made for the top- 
gallant forecastle, which appeared to be our best place for 
safety. In running forward I stepped into the fore-hatch, 
which was open, and fell in, but caught by the remnants of 
the sail which were hanging down the hatch, and which 
saved me from falling quite down. I got up, by the aid of 
the sail, on to the deck, and made for the forecastle, which I 
gained, where I found a number of persons had already 
placed themselves. 

" The first one whom I recognized, or heard, was Captain 
Salter, who said, ' Captain White, my dear fellow, I am 
glad to see you here.' I was at this time holding on the 
forestay, which lay across the forecastle ; and he further said, 
' Come forward here ; take the other end of this rope ; it is 
long enough for both of us.' I went and took the rope ; 



70 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

he then added, ' I picked out this place for myself, long 
before the boat went ashore.' I lashed myself to the next 
stanchion : this deck now began to work loose from the 
main part of the boat ; the deck settling, the starboard bow 
heaving up. I remarked, * I don't like this being tied fast 
to stanchions ; for if the bow falls over on to us, we have 
no means to clear us from being crushed by it.' I pro- 
posed casting ourselves loose from the stanchions ; we did 
so ; and then I took a piece of small rope, passed it round 
a small cleat, and held one end in my hand. At this time 
Captain Salter was washed off from the forecastle, but suc- 
ceeded in regaining it, and was a second time washed off, 
when one of the men, named Jackson, caught him and 
assisted him to get on the forecastle. I then handed the 
other end of the rope, which I had fastened to the cleat, to 
Salter. The sea which had washed Salter off broke ofT 
the stanchions to which we had first been lashed. All this 
time a Mr. Lovegreen was on the gallows frame, tolling 
the bell. 

^' The forecastle deck now broke loose and floated towards 
tlve shore, v*^ith the six persons besides myself. Very soon 
one man jumped off and gained the beach ; w^e all followed. 
I washed ashore with only shirt, pantaloons, stockings, and 
hat. We proceeded along the beach towards the light. We 
soon found another survivor ; afterwards we met Mr. Love- 
green. We continued our steps towards the lighthouse; 
tiext found Captain Hill, apparently very much exhausted ; 
asked for assistance to help him along, as he could not pro- 
ceed without. Finding the lighthouse at a greater distance 
than was at first believed, I persuaded one of the crew to 
remain with me to go along the surf, in order to give assist- 
ance to those who might be washed ashore ; whilst the other 
above-mentioned persons continued their course to the light- 
house." 

We have now given Captain White's minute detail of his 
proceedings on board of this ill-fated bark, from his first 
leaving the wharf, at New York, until he reached the shore 
of Ocracoke Island in safety. 

We will now relate the sufferings, escape, and heart-rend- 
ing reminiscences of other individuals, who survived this 
appalling event. From Mr. B. B. Hussey we have the fol- 
lowing particulars : — 



THE BOATS CAPSIZED. 71 

" As every particular is a matter of interest, — especially to 
those who had friends and relatives on board, — it may not 
be improper to state, that one individual urged the propriety 
of lowering the small boats, and putting the ladies and chil- 
dren into them for safety, with suitable persons to manage 
them, before we struck the breakers. By this arrangement, 
had it been effected, it is believed that the boats might have 
rode out the gale during the night, and have been rescued 
in the morning by passing vessels, and thus all, or nearly all, 
have been saved. But few supported this proposition, and 
it could not be done without the prompt interference of 
those who had authority to command, and who would be 
obeyed. 

" Immediately before we struck, one or two passengers, by 
the aid of some of the seamen, attempted to seek safety in 
one of the boats at the quarter, when a breaker struck it, 
swept it from the davits, and carried with it a seaman, who 
was instantly lost. A similar attempt was made to launch 
the long-boat from the upper deck, by the chief mate, Mr. 
Matthews, and others. It was filled with several pas- 
sengers, and some of the crew ; but, as we were already 
within the verge of the breakers, this boat shared the fate 
of the other, and all on board (about ten in number) per- 
ished. 

"Now commenced the most heart-rending scene. Wives 
clinging to husbands, — children to parents, — and women, 
who were without protectors, seeking aid from the arm of 
the stranger ; all awaiting the results of a moment which 
would bring with it either life or death. Though an in- 
tense feehng of anxiety must, at this time, have filled every 
breast, yet not a shriek was heard, nor was there any extra- 
ordinary exclamation of excitement or alarm. A slight agi- 
tation was, however, apparent in the general circle. Some 
few hurried from one part of the boat to another, as if seek- 
ing a place of greater safety ; yet most, and particularly 
those who had the melancholy charge of wives and children, 
remained quiet and calm observers of the scene before 
them. 

" The boat at length strikes, — it stops — as motionless as 
a bar of lead. A momentary pause follows, — as if the 
angel of death shrunk from so dreadful a work of slaughter. 



72 > THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOBIE. 

But soon the work of destruction commenced. A breaker, 
with a deafening crash, swept over the boat, carrying its 
unfortunate victims into the deep. At the same time, a 
simuhaneous rush was made towards the bows of the boat. 
The forward deck was covered. Another breaker came, 
with irresistible force, and all within its sweep disappeared. 
Our numbers were now frightfully reduced. The roaring 
of the waters, together with the dreadful crash of breaking 
timbers, surpasses the power of description. Some of the 
remaining passengers sought shelter from the encroaching 
dangers, by retreating to the passage, on the lee side of the 
boat, that leads from the after to the forward deck, as if to 
be as far as possible from the grasp of death. It may not 
be improper here to remark, that the destruction of the 
boat, and loss of life, was, doubtless, much more rapid than 
it otherwise would have been, from the circumstance of 
the boat heeling to windward, and the deck, which was 
nearly level with the water, forming, in consequence, an 
inclined plane, upon which the waves broke with their full 
force. 

"A large proportion of those who rushed into this passage 
were ladies and children, with a few gentlemen who had 
charge of them. The crowd was so dense, that many were 
in danger of being crushed by the irresistible pressure. 
Here were, perhaps, some of the most painful sights beheld. 
Before introducing any of the closing scenes of individuals, 
which the writer witnessed, or which he has gathered from 
his fellow-passengers, he would beg to be understood, that 
it is not for the gratification of the idle curiosity of the care- 
less and indifferent reader, or to pierce afresh the bleeding 
wounds of surviving friends, but to furnish such facts as may 
be interesting, and which, perhaps, might never be obtained 
through any other channel. 

"As the immediate connections of the writer are already 
informed of the particulars relating to his own unhappy be- 
reavement, there is no necessity for entering into a minute 
detail of this melancholy events 

" This passage contained perhaps thirty or more persons, 
consisting of men, women, and children, with no apparent 
possibility of escape ; enclosed within a narrow aperture, 
over which was the deck, and both ends of which wei-e 



I 




AFFECTING SITUATION OF A FAMILY. x 75 

completely closed by the fragments of the boat and the 
rushing of the waves. While thus shut up, death appeared 
inevitable. Already were both decks swept of every thing 
that was on them. The dining-cabin was entirely gone, 
and every thing belonging to the quarter-deck was com- 
pletely stripped off, leaving not even a stanchion or particle 
of the bulwarks ; and all this was the work of about five 
minutes. 

" The starboard wheel-house, and every thing about it, was 
soon entirely demolished. As nmch of the ceiling forward 
of the starboard wheel had, during the day, fallen from its 
place, the waves soon found their way through all that 
remained to oppose them, and were in a few minutes' time 
forcing into the last retreat of those who had taken shelter 
in the passage already nr^entioned. 

*•' Every wave made a frightful encroachment on our narrow 
limits, and seemed to threaten us with immediate death. 
Hopeless as was the condition of those thus hemmed in, 
yet not a shriek was heard from them. One lady, unknown 
to the WTiter, begged earnestly for some one to save her. In 
a time of such alarm, it is not strange that a helpless female 
should plead with earnestness for assistance from those who 
were about her, or even offer them money for that aid which 
the least reflection would have convinced her it was not 
possible to render. Another scene, witnessed at this trying 
hour, was still more painful. A little boy (supposed to be 
the son of Hardy B. Croom, of Newbern, N. C.) was plead- 
ing with his father to save him. 'Father,' said the boy, 
'you will save me, won't you? You can swim ashore with 
me ; can't you, father ? ' But the unhappy father was too 
deeply absorbed in the other charges that rested upon him, 
even to notice the imploring accents of his helpless child. 
For at that time, as near as the writer could judge, from 
the darkness of the place they were in, his wife hung upon 
one arm, and his daughter of seventeen upon the other. 
He had one daughter besides, near the age of this little 
boy, but whether she was at that time living or not is un- 
certain. 

" After remaining here some minutes, the deck overhead 
was split open by the violence of the waves, which allowed 
the writer an opportunity of climbing out. This he instantly 



76 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

did, and assisted his wife through the same opening. As he 
had now left those below, he is unable to say how they were 
finally lost, but as that part of the boat was very soon com- 
pletely destroyed, their further sufferings could not have 
been much prolonged. We were now in a situation which, 
from the time the boat struck, we had considered as the most 
safe, and had endeavored to attain. Here we resolved to 
await our uncertain fate. From this place we could see the 
encroachment of the devouring waves, every one of which 
reduced our thinned numbers, and swept with it parts of our 
crumbling boat. 

" For several hours previous, the gale had been sensibly 
abating ; and, for a moment, the pale moon broke through 
the dispersing clouds, as if to witness this scene of terror 
and destruction, and to show to the horror-stricken victims 
the fate that awaited them. How few were now left of the 
many who, but a little before, inhabited our bark ! While 
the moon yet shone, three men were seen to rush from the 
middle to the stern of the boat. A wave came rushing on. 
It passed over the deck. One only, of the three, was left. 
He attempted to regain his former position. Another wave 
came. He had barely time to reach a large timber, to which 
he clung, when this wave struck him, — and he too was miss- 
ing. As the wave passed away, the heads of two of these 
men were seen above the water ; but they appeared to make 
no eifort to swim. The probability is, that the violence with 
which they were hurled into the sea disabled them. They 
sunk — to rise no more. 

" During this time, Mr. Lovegreen, of Charleston, con- 
tinued to ring the boat's bell, which added, if possible, to 
the gloom. It sounded, indeed, like the funeral knell over 
the departed dead. Never before, perhaps, was a bell tolled 
at such a funeral as this. While hi this situation, and re- 
flecting on the necessity of being always prepared for the 
realities of eternity, our attention was arrested by the ap- 
pearance of a lady, climbing up on the outside of the boat, 
abaft the wheel, near where we were. Her head was barely 
above the deck, on which we stood, and she was holding to 
it in a most perilous manner. She implored help ; without 
which she must soon have fallen into the deep beneath, and 
shared the fate of the many who had already gone. The 



THE MOTHER AND CHILD. 77 

writer ran to her aid, but was unable to raise her to the 
deck. Mr. Woodburn, of New York, now came, and, 
with his assistance, the lady was rescued : she was then 
lashed to a large piece of timber, by the side of another 
lady, — the only remaining place that afforded any prospect 
of safety. The former lady (Mrs. Shroeder) was washed 
ashore, on this piece of the wreck, — one of the two who 
survived. The writer, having relinquished to this lady the 
place he had occupied, was compelled to get upon a large 
piece of the boat, that lay near, under the lee of the wheel ; 
this was almost immediately driven from its place into the 
breakers, which instantly swept him from it, and plunged 
him deep into the water. With some difficulty he regained 
his raft. He continued to chng to this fragment, as well as 
he could ; but was repeatedly washed from it. Sometimes, 
when plunged deep into the water, he came up under it. 
After encountering all the difficulties that seemed possible 
to be borne, he was, at length, thrown on shore, in an ex- 
hausted state. At the time the writer was driven from the 
boat, there were but few left. Of these, four survived, viz., 
Mrs. Shroeder and Mr. Lovegreen, of Charleston, Mr. 
Cohen, of Columbia, and Mr. Vanderzee, of New York." 

One mother sustained the noble character which, in all 
ages, has distinguished maternal affection. Her infant was 
in her arms, pressed close to her bosom, as if the whisper- 
ings of hope inspired the devoted woman with a behef that 
the feeble protection of a mother's love would shield her 
child from the conflict of warring elements. But for a mo- 
ment did this dream of hope last ; a wave wrested the infant 
from her grasp, and plunged it into the foaming waters ! A 
convulsive shriek proclaimed the agony of the bereaved 
mother, and ere the relentless surge had hidden her lost one 
forever, she sprang amongst the breakers and perished ! 
Who does not almost envy the fate of such a woman, 
dreadful though it seem ? Who would not wish to enter 
the presence of Almighty God as she did, a voluntary sacri- 
fice to the first of natural duties ? — ^a duty deeply implanted 
in the human breast, for the wise purposes of Heaven. 

" On reaching the beach, there was no appearance of in- 
habitants ; but, after wandering some distance, a light was 
discovered, which proved to be from Ocracoke lighthouse, 
7# 



78 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 




Affecting Instance of Mateinal Affection. (See page 77.) 

about six miles south-west of the place where the boat was 
wrecked. The inhabitants of the island, generally, treated 
us with great kindness ; and, so far as their circumstances 
would allow, assisted in properly disposing of the numerous 
bodies thrown upon the shore." 

" Mr. and Mrs. Cowles arrived in New York, September 
2'2d, intending to pass the winter with a brother and sister 
in Augusta, Georgia. They were long doubtful what means 
of conveyance to choose. They had a most decided aver- 
sion to a passage in the steamboat. Indeed, such had always 
been their strong and invincible dread, of the sea, that they 
would have chosen to journey the whole distance by land, 
if it had not been thought unsafe to travel so early in the 
season through tlie low countries of the South. During 
their visit to that city, the Home completed her second trip 
from Charleston ; the first in sixty-two, the last in sixty-four, 
hours. The speed, comfort, and safety of this boat were so 
highly extolled, that both were led to think more seriously 



MR. AND MRS. COWLES. 7^ 

of taking passage on her return ; and, after a personal in- 
spection of her accommodations, and learning that, on pre- 
vious passages, she had taken the inner channel, thus avoid- 
ing Cape Hatteras altogether, their berths were secured. 

" On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 7th, they were accompanied 
to the boat, in more than ordinary health and spirits, except- 
ing some natural tears on leaving home and friends, and (in 
the case of one, there can be no doubt) because of her in- 
stinctke and unparalleled fear when upon the water. 

" For several successive days, the weather was remarkably 
fine in that city ; many who had friends on board the Home 
watched it day and night ; and on rising, Tuesday morning, 
congratulated themselves and the voyagers on account of 
their safe arrival at Charleston. 

" How great was the shock, when, on the subsequent Tues- 
day, the awful tidings arrived, that the Home had foundered 
at sea, and the large majority of passengers, including Mr. 
and Mrs. Cowles, were in eternity ! 

*' It was the first impulse of all, on recovering sufficient 
composure, to converse with the survivors, and obtain from 
them, if possible, more definite information concerning their 
particular friends and relatives. The first and only indi- 
vidual who was able to make any report of Mr. and Mrs. 
C, was Mr. Jabez Holmes, an amiable and pious young 
gentleman of the house of Cornelius Baker & Co. He had 
no personal acquaintance with either. He knew them not 
by name. But when told that Mr. C. was a clergyman, he 
identified him at once, describing his dress and that of his 
wife so accurately, as to preclude all possibility of his being 
"mistaken. He had considerable conversation with both 
during the fatal storm ; and his recollections of them were 
the more distinct, because of the very remarkable composure 
which they exhibited ; which word, added the same gentle- 
man, failed to express all their countenances indicated. It 
was something more than composure — it was happiness, 
when they spoke of their confidence in God ! 

" The characteristic and precious remark made by Mr. C, 
as overheard by Mr. H., He that trusts in Jesus, &c., was 
enough to remove all those terrific images of distress, and 
paleness, and runnings to and fro, by which the minds of 
surviving friends were before agitated by day and night. 



80 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

" The remark of Mr. C, referred to above, was addressed 
to the steward and clerk of the boat, to see whom was 
judged very desirable, as he was observed to be in frequent 
conversation with Mr. and Mrs. C. up to a late hour. 

" The steward of the Home was Mr. David B. Milne, the 
son of a deceased clergyman, and who was saved in a man- 
ner almost miraculous, to rejoice a pious mother, and a sister 
on missionary ground. From him the following facts were 
afterwards obtained : — 

*' The gale commenced on Sabbath morning, and continued 
to increase all the day. At night, the boat labored much, 
and leaked considerably, but not enough to excite appre- 
hensions of danger. On Monday, A. M., there was no 
concealment of the fact, that all were in imminent peril. 
The general expectation was, that the boat would sink with 
all on board, when fifteen miles off Cape Hatteras. Mr. 
C, who, during two years of feeble health, had often been 
told by physicians that he must die, without a perceptible 
quickening of his pulse, or one distracting fear in his heart, 
^-and his wife, who had often stood at his side in the very 
presence of the palhd king, — were now, throughout this 
day of awful suspense, to exemplify the effects of their pre- 
vious discipline, when suddenly called to face death in one 
of its most terrific forms. 

" Mr. Milne states that he has a more distinct recollection 
of Mr. and Mrs. C. than of any other passengers, because 
of the religious conversation which they addressed to him. 
In the midst of the perils of that eventful day, Mr. C, who 
was compelled by sickness to keep his berth, requested Mr. 
M. to read aloud certain portions of Scripture, among which 
was that singularly appropriate and sublime passage, the 
24th chapter of Matthew ; and then (many of the passen- 
gers gathering round, and listening with profound interest) 
commended them all to God in audible prayer. Never, 
says Mr. M., were individuals more perfectly composed 
than Mr. and Mrs. C. Several distinct times, Mr. C. gave 
vent to his gratitude on account of the calmness and peace 
of his wife, who he expected would be greatly terrified. 
Both expressed a great degree of interest for the welfare of 
others. To one individual, the direct inquiry was proposed, 
in the kindest manner of Christian fidelity, whether he was 



PIOUS CONSOLATION. 



81 



a Christian, and if he did not admit, at such a time, that it 
was of all things safe and important to have God for a 
refuge. Concerning another, who, in a state of despera- 
tion, and under the influence of intoxicating liquors, uttered 
some horrible imprecations, Mr. C. remarked, ' How much 
better would it be for that man to be in prayer for his soul, 
than to blaspheme his God ! ' The remark was afterwards 
communicated to the individual himself, under very affect- 
ing circumstances. He survived his wife on that dreadful 
night. 

" At three o'clock in the afternoon, when it was evident 
that the boat could not long hold together, Mr. and Mrs. C, 
who had hitherto declined going up, on the plea that their 
doing so would be of no service, were summoned to the 
dining-cabin on the main deck. Mr. M. himself assisted 
Mrs. C. out of her berth, and again heard her declare, when 
dressing for her death, her joy and sense of security in con- 
fiding on almighty love. To him the remark was made by 
Mr. C, ' He that trusts in Jesus is safe, even amid the perils 
of the seaJ 

" At -eight o'clock in the evening, when nearing the shore, 
another effort was made to lighten the boat by bailing ; and, 
as it was necessary for all to aid, the ladies, and among them 
Mrs. C, formed a line for passing the empty buckets, in 
which occupation her clieerful appearance was observed by 
many, and tended not a little to inspire others with hope. 
Mr. C. expressed regret that, owing to his great feebleness, 
he was unable to afford much aid, but, seated on a trunk, 
did what he could, in passing the empty pails. Notwith- 
standing all their exertions, the leak gained very rapidly ; 
the fire under the boilers had long ago been extinguished ; 
the engines were useless ; the cabin floor was deeply flooded, 
and all further effort was abandoned. All was silence ; most 
were providing themselves with whatever presented the least 
hope of safety. Mr. and Mrs. C. sat together in calm ex- 
pectation. At ten minutes before eleven, the boat struck. 
The moon was shrouded by thick clouds, but it was not so 
dark, but that the shore could be seen at the distance of a 
quarter of a mile. Orders were immediately given for all 
the passengers to go forward. A life-line was passed from 
the bow aft, to which they were advised to cling in a sud- 



82 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

den emergency. Mr. C. was seen to go forward witli his 
arm around his wife. They were seen no more. Probably 
the first breaker which struck the boat, after she swung 
to the sea, swept them together to their watery grave. 
' Lovely were they in their lives, and in death they were 
not divided.' Who can doubt that it would have been the 
choice of both, if either was to be taken, not to be sepa- 
rated in such a death ? Both were taken to their home and 
refuge at the same moment. Blessed be God for all those 
calm supports which He extended to them in prospect of 
death. — elevating the one above the reach of a more than 
ordinary timidity, and thus comforting the hearts of many 
on sleepless pillows, when the dark and driving storm carries 
their frio-hted thouohts to the sea. 

" We have the melancholy satisfaction of adding, tliat the 
body of Mrs. C. was found the morning after the fatal dis- 
aster, carried to the residence of Mr. ¥/iliiam Howard, there 
shrouded by the humane hands of Mrs. H. and other ladies, 
— whose tender and feeling conduct deserves the highest 
praise of the community, as it has evoked the blessing of 
many bleeding hearts, — and thence removed to an adjoin- 
ing place of sepulture, and decently interred, with a board, 
bearing her name, to mark the spot." 

" The survivors, after remaining on the island till Thursday 
afternoon, separated, — some returning to New York, others 
proceeding on to Charleston. Acknowledgment is due to 
the inhabitants of Washington, Newborn, and Wilmington, 
as well as of other places through which we passed, for the 
kind hospitality we received, and the generous offers made 
to us. Long will these favors be gratefully remembered by 
the survivors of the unfortunate Home." 

The cause of this terrible disaster was the unseaworthi- 
ness of the vessel. However well she might have performed 
her accustomed trips on a calm river, she never should have 
ventured outside of Sandy Hook ; being totally unfit for 
ocean navigation, so unfaithfully was she built. A gentle- 
man who was on board of the Home in September, during 
a conversation with Mr. Hunt, the chief engineer, no- 
ticing the peculiar form of the deck, which was serpentine, 
drooping very much at the bows and stern, asked what was 
her original shape. Hunt said she was originally straight, 



UNSEAWORTHINESS OF THE BOAT. 83 

but said that in her first trip they had put a large quantity 
of ballast too far forward, and under her forward cabin floor, 
and that in consequence two of her fore and aft stay-rods 
had broken before she arrived in Charleston, and that in con- 
sequence the boat had strained and dropped at the bows. 
He also said that after they had taken the ballast out, and 
repaired the stay-rods, the boat had come back considerably 
to her place. 

As the gale increased, the awful and portentous insuffi- 
ciency of the frail bark began to be developed. The hull 
bent and twisted, when struck by a sea, as if the next would 
rend it asunder; the panels of the ceiling were dropping 
from their places ; and the hull, as if united by hinges, was 
bendinor ao^ainst the feet of the braces. After she struck, 
her destruction was as rapid as that of the unfortunate crew. 
She went to pieces in less than an hour ; and all agree that 
the speed of her dissolution indicated a weakness and rot- 
tenness of constitution entirely unfit for the service on which 
she had been sent. 

In this case we see and feel how many human beings 
were led to destruction, by the criminal neglect of those 
who had assumed the responsibility, and therefore lay under 
the most imperative obligations to protect their lives by all 
the means which hurnan prudence could provide. On the 
contrary, it appears that a reckless indifference to these 
responsibilities, and a total disregard of the solemn trusts 
they had assumed, did characterize the conduct of the own- 
ers of this ill-fated vessel. It matters little whether they 
did or did not Jcnow that they were inviting their fellow- 
creatures to their destruction. It is plain that the owners 
ought to have Jcnown it, and that their ignorance, if it did 
exist, was owing to a gross and palpable neglect of duty, 
amounting to a high crime against morality and humanity. 

LIST OF FASSENGERS. 

Passengers lost. — Madame Boudo, Madame Reviere, 
Mrs. Hussey, Mrs. Levy, Miss F. Levy, Miss O. Levy, 
Mrs. Flinn and two children, Hardy B. Croom and lady, 
Miss Croom. Miss J. Croom, Master Croom, Mrs. Camack, 
Mr. P. S. Cohen, Mr. H. A. Cohrs, Mr. S. G. Fuller, Mr. 



84 THE LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

H. M. Tileston, Mr. C. Williman, of Charleston, S. G. 
Rev. G. Cowles and lady, of Augusta, Geo. Prof. Nott 
and lady, of Columbia, S. C. Mr. Desaybe, lady, and 
servant. Mr. Broquet, lady, child, and servant. Mr. O. 
H. Prince and lady, of Athens, Geo. Mrs. Hill, of New 
Hampshire. Mrs. Whiting. Mrs. Boyd. Mrs. Faugh. 
Mrs. Miller. Miss Stowe, of Augusta, Geo. Miss Roberts, 
of South Carolina. Mr. J. Root. Mr. J. M. Roll. Mr. 
G. H. Palmer. Mr. H. C. Bangs, of Connecticut. Mr. 
Whiting. Mr. Wild. Mr. J. Paine, of Mobile. Mr. A. 
F. Bostwick, of South Carolina. Mr. A. Desaybe. Mr. 
F. Desaybe. Mr. T. Smith. Mr. Laroque. Mr. P. 
Domingues. Mr. Labadie. Mr. Walton. Mr. Hazard. 
Mr. Canthers. Mr. Finn. Mr. Woodburn, Mr. Richard 
Graham, of New York. Mr. Sprott, of Alabama. Mr. 
T. Anderson, Mr. D. B. Toms, of Columbia, S. C. Mr. 
Kennedy, of Darlington, S. C. Mr. Walker. Mr. Bene- 
dict, of Augusta, Geo. Mr. J. Boyd. 

Passengers saved. — - Madame La Coste, Mrs. Shroeder, 
Mr. A. A. Lovegreen, Mr. Charles Drayton, Mr. B. B. 
Hussey, of Charleston, S. C. Mr. J. S. Cohen, of Co- 
lumbia, S. C. Mr. C. C. Cady, of Montgomery, Ala. 
Mr. Thomas J. Smith, Mr. J. D. Roland, Mr. John Bishop, 
Mr. J. Holmes, Mr. H. Vanderzee, Mr. H. Anderson, of 
New York. Captain Hill, Captain Salter, of Portsmouth, 
N.. H. Mr. Jas. Johnson, jun., of Boston. Mr. W. S. 
Reed, of New Haven, Ct. Mr. D. Clock, of Athens, Geo. 
Mr. John Mather. Conrad Q,uinn, boy, of Jersey City. 

Of the crew, there were in all forty-three, including the 
captain, two mates, the chief engineer, &c. : of these, the 
captain and nineteen of the boat's company alone were 
saved. The names of the crew not known. 




HORRID PARTICULARS 



PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD OF THE 

SHIP FRANCIS SPAIGHT, 

WHICH 

Foundered in the Atlantic Ocean, 

December, 1837. 

HIS shocking account of the transactions 
on board of this vessel was written by 
one of the crew. 

The Francis Spaight, of 345 tons, 

H laden with timber, sailed from St. 
John's, Newfoundland, November 24th, 
bound for Limerick. The crew amount- 
ed to fourteen men, with the captain and mate ; they had 
fine weather for a few days, but it afterwards blew so hard 
that they were obliged to drive before the wind. At three 
o'clock in the morning of December 3d, the vessel, through 
the carelessness of the helmsman, suddenly broached to, and 
in less than an hour she lay on her beam ends, the greater 
part of the crew saving themselves by clinging to the rig- 
ging. Patrick Cusack and Patrick Behane were drowned 
in the forecastle, and Griffith, the mate, in the after cabin. 
The captain and Mulville got to the fore and mainmasts, 
and cut them away ; the mizzen-topmast went with them 
over the side, and the ship immediately righted. As soon 
as she righted, she settled down in the sea, and there was 
scarcely any thing to be seen of her except the poop and 
bulwarks. No situation could be more miserable than that 
of the unfortunate crew, standing ankle deep on the wreck, 
in a winter's night, and chnging to whatever was nearest, 




I 



I 



S6 FAMINE ON BOARD THE FRANCIS SPAIGHT. 

as sea after sea rolled successively over them. On the 
dawn, they discovered that their provisions had been 
washed overboard, and they had no means of coming at 
any fresh water. The gale continued unabated, and for 
safety and shelter they gathered into the cabin under the 
poop. Even here, she was so deep with water, a dry plank 
could not be found, and their only rest was by standing close 
together. At ten o'clock in the forenoon, a vessel was de- 
scried to the westward, but she stood far away beyond the 
reach of signal, and was soon out of sight. That day and 
the next passed away without any change in the weather. 
On the third, it began to moderate. There were thirteen 
hands alive, and not one had tasted a morsel of food since 
the wreck, and they had only three bottles of wine ; this 
was served out in wine-glasses, at long intervals. There 
was some occasional rain, which they were not prepared at 
first for saving, but on the fourth or fifth day they got a 
cistern under the mizzenmasts, where it was filled in two 
days. 

The periods in which little or no rain fell, were, however, 
often long, so that they stinted themselves to the smallest 
possible allowance. In seven days after the appearance of 
the first vessel, another was seen only four miles north. An 
ensign was hoisted, but she bore away like the former, and 
was soon* lost to their view. Despair was now in every 
countenance. How they lived through the succeeding five 
days it would be hard to tell ; some few endeavored to eat 
the horn buttons of their jackets. Horrible as this situation 
was, it was made yet worse by the conduct of the crew 
towards one another. As their suflferings increased, they 
became cross and selfish ; the strong securing a place on the 
cabin floor, and pushing aside the weak to shift for them- 
selves in the wet and cold. There Avas a boy, named 
O'Brien, especially, who seemed to have no friend on board, 
and endured every sort of cruelty and abuse. Most of the 
men had got sore legs from standing in the salt water, and 
were peevish and apprehensive of being hurt : as soon as 
O'Brien came near them in search of a dry berth, he was 
kicked away, for which he retaliated in curses. 

On the 19th December, the 16th day since the wreck, 
the captain said, they were now a length of time without 



LOTS DRAWN BETWEEN THE BOYS. 8T 

sustenance, that it was beyond human nature to endure it 
any longer, and that the only question for them to consider 
was, whether one or all should die : his opinion w^as, that 
one should suffer for the rest, and that lots should be drawn 
between the four boys, as they could not be considered so 
great a loss to their friends, as those who had wives and 
children depending on them. None objected to this, except 
the boys, who cried out against the injustice of such a pro- 
ceeding. O'Brien, in particular, protested against it : and 
some mutterings were heard amongst the men, that led the 
latter to apprehend they might proceed in a more summary 
way. Friendless and forlorn as he was, they were calculated 
to terrify the boy into acquiescence, and he at length submit- 
ted. Mulville now prepared some sticks of different lengths 
for the lots. A bandage was tied over O'Brien's eyes, and he 
knelt down, resting his face on Mulville's knees. The latter 
had the sticks in his hand, and was to hold them up, one by 
one, demanding whose lot it was. O'Brien was to call out a 
name, and wdiatever person he named for the shortest stick 
was to die. Mulville held up the first stick, and demanded 
whom it was for. The answer was, " For little Johnny Shee- 
han ; " and the lot was laid aside. The next was held up, 
and the demand was repeated. '' On myself; " upon which 
Mulville said, that was the death lot — that O'Brien had 
called it for himself. The poor fellow heard the announce- 
ment without uttering a word. The men told him he must 
prepare for death, and the captain proposed bleeding him io 
the arm. The cook cut his veins across with a small knife, 
but could bring no flow of blood ; the boy himself attempt- 
ed to open the vein at the bend of the elbow^, but, like the 
cook, he failed in bringing blood. The captain then said, 
" This is of no use ; 'tis better to put him out of pain by 
bleeding him in the throat." At this O'Brien, for the first 
time, looked terrified, and begged that they would give him 
a little time ; he said he was cold and weak, but if they 
would let him lie down and sleep for a little, he would get 
warm, and then he would bleed freely. To this there were 
expressions of dissent from the men, and the captain said, 
Hwas better at once to lay hold on him, and let the cook cut 
his throat. O'Brien, driven to extremity, declared he would 
not let them ; the first man, he said, who laid hands on him, 



Ob FAMINE ON BOARD THE FRANCIS SPAIGHT. 

'twould be the worse for him ; that he'd appear to him an- 
other time ; that he'd haunt him after death. There was a 
general hesitation amongst them, when a fellow named Har- 
rington seized the boy, and they rushed in upon hiin. He 
screamed and struggled violently, addressing himself, in par- 
ticular, to Sullivan, a Tarbert man. The poor youth was, 
however, soon got down, and the cook, after considerable 
hesitation, cut his throat with a case knife, and the tureen 
was put under the boy's neck to save the blood. 

As soon as the horrid act had been perpetrated, the blood 
was served to the men. They afterwards laid open the body, 
and separated the limbs ; the latter were hung over the stern, 
while a portion of the former was allotted for immediate 
use, and almost every one partook of it. This was the 
evening of the 16th day. They ate again late at night; but 
the thirst, which was before endurable, now became craving, 
and they slaked it with salt water. Several were raving, 
and talking wildly through the night, and in the morning 
the cook was quite mad. His raving continued during the 
succeeding night, and in the morning, as his end seemed to 
be approaching, the veins of his neck were cut, and the 
blood drawn from him. This was the second death. On 
that night Behane was mad, and the boy Burns on the fol- 
lowing morning ; they were obliged to be tied by the crew, 
and the latter eventually bled to death by cutting his throat. 
Behane died unexpectedly, or he would have suffered the 
same fate. Next morning Mahony distinguished a sail, and 
raised a shout of joy. A ship was clearly discernible, and 
bearing her course towards them. Signals were hoisted, 
and when she approached, they held up the hands and feet 
of O'Brien to excite commiseration. The vessel proved to 
be the Angenora, an American. She put off a boat to their 
assistance, and the survivors of the Francis Spaight were 
safely put on board the American, where they were treated 
with the utmost kindness. 




The Pamperos of the Rio de la Plata; 



WITH THE 



REMARKABLE NARRATIVE 

OF 

MR. GEORGE FRACKER, 

THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF THE CREW OF 

THE SHIP JANE; 

His Escape to the Shore, and perilous Situation 
while among the Guachas of South America, 
September, 1817. 

N the eastern coast of South America, 
thirty-four degrees south of the equator, 
the grand and majestic La Plata flows 
into the Atlantic Ocean. On approach- 
ing the river from the sea, the low and 
level land appears wholly different in its 
outline from the wild and towering front 
along the coast of Brazil. 

This vast river is a hundred and fifty miles wide at the 
mouth, and extends, with a gradual contraction, and in a 
winding direction, along the shores of Paraguay, in the heart 
of South America, a distance of twelve hundred miles. At 
Monte Video the water is brackish, and cannot be drank ; 
but at a short distance above, though it appears at all times 
turbid and discolored, as if with the yellow mud at the bot- 
tom, the taste is sweet and palatable. A sealing ship was 
once cast away on the Falkland Islands, and a few of the 
crew with difficulty saved themselves in the long-boat. 
Being on a barren land, they resolved, with one barrel of 
beef, which they had fortunately recovered, and a scanty 
8* 




90 THE PAMPEROS OF THE LA PLATA. 

supply of water, to commit themselves to the mercy of the 
waves, in their frail bark, and pushed for the River La 
Plata. After a miserable passage, and expending their 
entire stock of provisions, they arrived at last even to the 
inner roads of Buenos Ayres, ascended the deck of the first 
vessel they saw, and implored, " in the name of God,'' a 
draught of water; having traversed over a surface of one 
hundred miles of good fresh water, for twenty-four hours, 
not apprehending that it was fresh, and sailed dismally over 
it, perishing with intolerable thirst. 

The tides in the river, as far up as Buenos Ayres, are, in 
general, regular, except when influenced by strong and con- 
stant winds, and the rise and fall is about eight or ten feet. 
The bed of the river is of hard sand, and when the tides 
are low, no boats can come near the shore; and many per- 
sons gain a living by conveying goods and passengers from 
the boats and craft to the shore, which is sometimes a 
quarter of a mile. The following facts will illustrate the 
power of those violent gales, called jjamperos, from their 
blowing from the pampas, or plains. Their power upon the 
waters of this river is tremendous. 

Many years ago, during the contest with Spain, a Span- 
ish sloop-of-war was lying in the outer roads, distant at least 
seven miles from the city. A succession of strong pamperos, 
in a few days, laid bare the whole ground of the inner har- 
bor, and the vessels and craft were left motionless and dry. 
The winds still continuing to roll back the waters, even the 
proud Spaniard, it was discovered, was laid bare to the keel. 
Preparations were immediately made by the patriots to attack 
her, in this her stationary and perilous situation. A large 
body of artillerists, with some pieces of heavy cannon, de- 
scended the banks of the river, and were drawn along on 
the sand by horses, and all the busde of a march, and prep- 
aration for battle, as on the tented field, were seen on 
ground which the winds had cleared for them, and over 
which the waves were wont to roar. The astonished Span- 
iards saw with alarm and consternation the approach of an 
enemy on horseback, where, a few days before, their ship 
had rode in ten fathoms of water. They, however, pre- 
pared for a desperate conflict, being resolved to defend their 
ship, or rather now their castle, to the last. Their fate ap- 



THE ASSAILANTS DRIVEN ON SHORE. 91 

peared almost certain ; but fortune for once favored them, 
and accomplished more in ten minutes than their own great- 
est bravery. The action had commenced, when an unusual 
shout of triumph, from the deck of the Spaniard, caused 
the assailants to look beyond, when, with a dismay like that 
of Pharaoh's host, they beheld the surge rolling in and roar- 
ing towards them ! The battle ceased instantly : the alarm 
was electric, — the traces were cut from the cannons, — the 
guns were abandoned, — and they galloped off in full retreat, 
with the sea in close pursuit at their heels, and were precip- 
itately driven up again, by this new enemy, from the inva- 
sion of her possessions. 

The Plata has been called, by the Spaniards, "El Inferno 
de los marineros ; " sufficient stress has not, however, been 
laid on the redeeming qualities which it possesses in having 
anchoring ground every where, and in soundings, whose 
nature tells whether you are approaching danger ; as on 
and near the banks the bottom is hard, while in the deeper 
water it is very soft. 

Before a pampero, the barometer continues to fall during 
several days, and invariably the water then rises. The gale 
commences, the barometer ceases falling and begins to rise, 
and very soon afterwards the level of the river is found to 
be sinking. 

Before a pampero, the weather is sultry during a few days, 
with a light breeze from the east or north-east, ending in a 
calm. A cool, light wind then sets in from the south or 
south-east, but confined entirely to the lower strata of the 
atmosphere, while the clouds above it are moving in an op- 
posite direction, from north-west to south-east. The north- 
ern horizon, as night advances, becomes dark, with heavy, 
lowering clouds, accompanied with lightning from the east 
or north-east. The southern wind now ceases, and is fol- 
lowed by variable winds from the northward. Heavy clouds 
are thus brought over, and lightning, accompanied by thun- 
der, follows, in a terrific manner. The wind veers gradu- 
ally to the westward in violent gusts ; the lightning becomes 
more vivid, and the thunder more awful ; the gale now 
follows from the south-west. The lightning is beautifully 
colored, presenting the hues of orange, violet, and pink. At 



92 THE PAMPEROS OF THE LA PLATA. 

Monte Video, are seen very remarkable instances of electric 
light, playing like the Aurora Borealis, at an altitude of 20 
degrees above the horizon. 

" When on board of the ship Ocean, of New York, the ves- 
sel in which I left the United States," says Mr. Fracker, "as 
we lay at anchor in the La Plata, on the twenty-second of Feb- 
ruary, Washington's birth-day, a phenomenon took place at 
Buenos Ayres, which will ever be remembered by those who 
witnessed it, and which, I believe, has never been recorded. 
On the morning of that day, while lying off from the shore 
about three quarters of a mile, the men being employed, as 
usual, in washing the decks, it being about half past seven, 
and the sun two hours high, — 'Jack,' says one of the men 
to his shipmate, after he had thrown his bucket of water, and 
was observing the weather, ' what means that cloud of dust 
in the wake of the town yonder ? ' Before the question 
could be answered by his comrade, however, the uncommon 
appearance of this dense body of dust, and the wild appear- 
ance of the sky, had riveted the eyes of all on board. 
* Stand by the cable tier,' vociferated the chief mate ; 'jump 
down and be ready to pay out ; bear a-hand, my hearties ; 
here's a 'pampero coming, driving the world before him.' 
The black cloud of dust now rising and expanding in awful 
grandeur, and extending over half the horizon, rapidly ap- 
proached us, immediately followed by an immense shroud 
of impenetrable darkness, which rose beneath and followed 
it. As the ship lay broadside to the shore, I was proceeding 
from midships to the helm, in order to bring her head to 
wind ; but I was arrested in my progress by total darkness 
and the tremendous blast, which at once struck the ship and 
nearly capsized her, and had to secure myself by clinching 
the railing. ' This is indeed a phenomenon ! ' I exclaimed to 
the chief mate ; ' what comes next ? ' But astonishment kept 
him and all others deprived, for the time, of speech. Here, 
for a few minutes, was a grand and awfully-sublime spec- 
tacle: on one side of us was a body of almost palpable 
darkness, and on the other the fair light of heaven. Ex- 
pecting momentarily to be blown to the other regions, we 
waited, breathlessly, the result of this wonder of nature, 
for about twenty minutes, when the field of darkness passed 



I 



ATMOSPHERICAL PHENOMENON. 93 

through, and was driven beyond us to the other side ; and in 
its vacancy the hght slowly returned : thus w^e had repeatedly 
light on one side and darkness on the other. On discerning 
the features of each other, we were surprised at their ludicrous 
complexion : a sooty black dust had overspread our faces, and 
rendered our appearance like that of negroes. On recover- 
ing our surprise, we found we had sustained no other dam- 
age than dragging our anchors a few cables' length ; but other 
vessels, near before, we scarcely could recognize, they had 
drifted so far. The remainder of the day was boisterous 
and rainy, attended with heavy thunder and lightning. The 
sailors considered this event as a voice of Providence, and 
the carpenter piously believed it a judgment on the sinful 
inhabitants of the land. In the city a greater degree of 
consternation prevailed. Many, at the time, were in the 
streets going and returning from market ; but the sudden 
absence of hght compelled them to remain as they were 
caught, with caravans of mules, droves of horses, &c. 

" In April, the ship having altered her destination, I ob- 
tained a release ; not choosing to return home, and being 
desirous of seeing more of the world. 

" In the month of May, I entered at Buenos Ayres as 
second officer on board the English ship Jane, Captain Wil- 
liam Seaboth, bound on a voyage from that place to the 
Brazils. Our departure was some time retarded, (an ill- 
omened event,) owing to the carelessness of the pilot, by 
striking on the bar in going out, which materially damaged 
our rudder, and caused our detention nearly six weeks. 
Towards the middle of June, however, we again set sail, 
and after a moderate passage of twenty days, anchored in 
the harbor of Rio Janeiro. Waiting here two months for 
frei,i^ht, we at last succeeded in getting it, and on the third 
of September, in company with a large fleet for different 
ports, sailed on our return, bound to the ports of Monte 
Video and Buenos Ayres, with a cargo consisting of rum, 
sugar, tobacco, flour, butter, rice, and dry goods, having on 
board five passengers, two of them Spaniards, inhabitants 
of Buenos Ayres, a German, an Englishman, and an Ameri- 
can, the three last freighters of the vessel, and owners of 
the principal part of the cargo ; four blacks, their slaves ; 
and fourteen of the ship's company, comprising in all 



94 



MR. GEORGE FRACKER S NARRATIVE. 



twenty-three persons. Our passage was agreeable and 
very favorable, and in fifteen days we discovered Cape 
St. Mary, the northern entrance of the River La Plata ; 
continuing our course along the banks of the river, with a 
fine wind, till towards sunset on that day, when the weather 
becoming foggy, the wind increasing, and the night ap- 
proaching, it was deemed expedient to haul off shore, and 
gain an offing for anchorage. We accordingly came to 
anchor about fifteen miles from Monte Video, our first des- 
tined port, near the Island of Flores, or Flowers, that being 
to windward, and the wind about south-east. The gale 
increasing very fast, at eight o'clock more cable was payed 
out, and at nine, it blowing very hard, another anchor was 
let go. At half past nine we took supper, 'elated with the 
idea of our being so near the end of our passage, and happy 
in the fair prospect of breakfasting next morning on shore. 
Little did they imagine that supper to be their last, and of 
being so near the end of the voyage of life. From this 
time the gale still continued to increase, the ship pitching 
very heavily, and wetting from fore to aft by the spray of 
the sea. At twelve, midnight, after passing an anxious 
watch below, owing to the strange rolling and pitching of 
the ship, caused by a strong weather current, I came upon 
deck to relieve the watch. I went forward to examine the 
state of the cables in the hawse-holes, and then returned to 
the quarter-deck, to the lead line, which we had kept over 
the side, and by its feeling was fearful that the ship had 
been, and was still drifting. The motion of the ship and 
strong current prevented my knowing this to a certainty ; 
both our anchors, which were of over-proportioned sizes, 
being down, and our cables, nearly new, out, with their 
whole scope of a hundred fathoms. While at the lead, I 
observed something, at a distance to leeward, like a white 
foam, and remarked it to the boatswain, who v/as standing 
near. He replied, he thought it no more than the curl of 
the waves. Not satisfied with this, I went aft into the yawl 
astern, and was soon satisfied thoy were breakers, and not 
far off. I quickly went below to the cabin, awoke the 
captain, and aroused the passengers. He soon ran up 
on deck, and had just gained it, when, at fifteen minutes 
past twelve, the ship struck. Those below were directly 



THE DISMAY OF THE CREW. 95 

alarmed by the shock, — for the previous motion, with the 
noise of the wind, and the roar of the sea, must have pre- 
vented their sleeping, — and hurried affrighted to the deck. 
The sea began instantly to break over every part of the 
ship, and all were struck with horror on looking round at 
the awful prospect, and the inevitable destruction that 
awaited them. Some were in their shirts, others half 
dressed, and many with their clothes in their hands. For 
the first time, I saw seamen completely terror-struck and 
dismayed. The captain ordered the steward to go down 
and secure some articles in the cabin : he descended, but 
soon came up with the dismal tidings that the cabin was full 
of water. Many, from the violence of her striking, were 
obHged to hold on by the railing, and the captain, among 
them, gave orders to cut away the masts. The carpenter 
was sick in his hammock below. I asked several for the 
place where the axe lay. ' We don't know of any axe, 
sir,' was the answer ; ' Lord, have mercy upon us.' The 
seas now made complete breaches over every part of the 
ship ; and perceiving I should have to commit myself to the 
waves, I threw off my pea jacket and hat. Most of the 
crew and passengers were holding on to the different parts 
on the quarter-deck, as the highest part of the ship : three 
or four, I was pained to see, although nearly naked in freez- 
ing weather, had got up into the main shrouds. From the 
time she had first struck, the seas had broken so completely 
over us, that it rendered every effort abortive towards the 
first and most laudable intention of cutting the cables, 
making some sail, and driving as far as possible on shore ; 
or, at the worst, to cut away the masts. But such was its 
sudden violence, that nothing was soon thought of but to 
attempt to hold on as long as possible, and efforts for any 
thing else were impracticable and abandoned. While hold- 
ing on to the quarter-rail, we were at every sea overwhelmed 
and washed out, at arms' length, off our legs ; and many were 
forced from their holds and drowned, or broken and bruised 
to death, by pieces of the wreck. Finding it impossible 
to stand longer this freezing and suffocating drenching, I 
watched my chance, and sprang over the heads of some 
that were in the mizzen-rigging, and gained the mizzen-top, 
advising the rest to follow, as I was certain no one could 



96 



MR. GEORGE FRACKER S NARRATIVE. 



stand such horrid seas five minutes longer. Here, in the 
mizzen-top, in the intervals of the ship's striking, I fell to 
thrashing myself, preparing for the waves. I took off my 
shoes, and beat the soles of my feet. My limbs had been 
for some time much benumbed, and my feet without feeling: 
I succeeded, however, at last, by great exertion, in circu- 
lating the blood, and rendered myself once more warm. 
While aloft, the work of chaotic destruction was busily 
carried on by the dread ministers of death. It appeared as 
if orders had been given from above, on this night, for total 
and indiscriminate destruction in the shortest time possible. 
There I could almost perceive those spirits of vengeance 
who ' ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm.' From 
thence was a view of a shipwreck in all its terrors, and in 
all its sublimity. While here, most of those below were 
now washed from their grasps, and soon met death. The 
mainmast likewise fell over the side, — unfortunately the 
wrong side, to windward, — off^ shore, the ship laying broad- 
side to the sea, and having a weather heel. 

" The ship continued to beat very hard upon a ledge of 
rocks till she was in pieces. The long-boat, by repeated 
seas, was forced from her grips and fastenings, and the 
small boat, astern, instantly after struck, and was carried 
away upon the top of a sea, with all its appendage of sails, 
tackles, and lashings. I soon found myself going over with 
the mizzenmast, which fell, and carried me along with it. 
I was plunged into the sea, and received a few scratches 
and bruises, but happily extricated myself, and by making 
my way down the rigging, with difficulty regained the ship. 
I was now beset on all sides with conflicting timber, but was 
well aware of the danger which threatened me. It was, 
indeed, passing the watery ordeal to cross the ship at this 
time to gain the shore, and, springing in the interval of a 
sea to gain the other side, I found every plank of the main 
deck washed off and in pieces ; the foremast had now like- 
wise fallen, and numerous pipes of wine, floating around, 
added to the general wreck. I had fallen in springing 
among this ruin, and had so far received but one or two 
serious bruises ; but a tremendous wave now swept before 
it some large spars, and carrying me along with it, my right 
leg was struck by one of them just at the joint of the knee, 



A CRITICAL SITUATION. 



97 



which was instantly crushed, and jammed in between tliat 
and a deck beam, a few of which still remained fast, as near 
as I could distinguish ; for it was now as dark as Erebus. 
Now, for a few moments jammed in, as it were in a vice, my 
situation was most critical, and frightfully dismaying. The 




Wreck of the Ship Jane, in the Rio de la Plata. 

blow I felt had almost severed my leg, and kept it still con- 
fined ; another sea was roaring towards me, which would 
infalhbly have washed some large surrounding timber higher 
up against my head and body, and of which I was in instant 
expectation. But, by a fortunate rise of the water, I caught 
hold of the lee-rail, and threw myself over the ship's side 
9 



98 MR. GEORGE FRACKER's NARRATIVE. 

into the sea, not with a hope of reaching the shore, which I 
did not know how to steer for, as I had not seen it, but 
resolving to hasten my end, preferring to die with sea-room^ 
and to avoid a death which seemed equal to being broken 
upon the wheel. I had heard the voices of two or three 
others, and among them the captain, their bones probably 
mostly broken, and but just alive. These I believed were 
all that still survived. 

" After I had plunged into the sea, and rose, I held on for 
a moment to the upper works, which was all that was now 
left of the ship. I then quitted and began to strip — no easy 
manoeuvre for a person in my then situation, as I had on a 
thick jacket, waistcoat, two pair of trousers, and necker- 
chief. While doing this, some one, and the only one whom 
I discovered clinging to the ship's timbers, was suddenly 
washed from his hold, and, extending his arms, grasped my 
neckerchief behind, and we sunk together. Pushed for breath 
myself, it was no time for ceremony : the next hold I per- 
haps could not disengage ; and I was not so beside myself 
as, by attempting to assist another, to insure certain deatli to 
both. I therefore quickly untied my neckerchief: he sunk 
with it in his hand, and I saw him no more. I presumed 
he was a passenger, from his white shirt ; and from his great 
size, Senior Monasteria, a Spanish engineer. While under 
water, I in a moment stripped myself, and again rose to the 
surface, divested of all covering but my shirt; my leg hung 
down useless in the water; besides which, I had several cuts 
in my feet, several bruises upon my ribs, and a large cut over 
my left eye, through which the chilling coldness of the water 
struck to the heart. Although always an expert swimmer, 
I found I could barely keep myself above water. Fearless 
before of wind and water, I was now puzzled; for swim- 
ming, even with health and whole bones, was unavailing in 
a sea like this. Hitherto I had seen no land, but was swept 
and carried along by every sea which came over me, and I 
resolved to get hold of the first thing I fell in with, and gain 
breath, of v/hich I was very short. I soon seized hold of a 
bale of goods, but it, being wet and heavy, was of no use, for 
every sea rolled over me, and I quitted it nearly exhausted. 
I saw numberless pieces of the wreck, and was in constant 
danger of being struck by some, which I often avoided by 



NATURE NEARLY EXHAUSTED. 99 

diving and scrambling from, but which the prodigious seas 
would wholly overwhelm. 

'• I stood this hard buffeting for about a dozen seas, and 
nature was fast retreating from the conflict ; being desper- 
ately pushed for breath, as I could draw but little in the short 
interval of the seas. I had now been nearly half an hour in 
the water, and half the time underneath it ; disabled as I 
was, I had withstood beyond my hopes this war of elements, 
but my breath now deserted me like the flash of a taper, £tnd 
another sea struck out every particle of the remainder. Suf- 
focated and strangled, I gasped twice with a convulsive leap. 
It was in vain ; another sea swept over me ; I saw death inev- 
itable, terrible, and face to face. I had but time, with a last 
breath, to say involuntarily the ejaculation, ' Lord Jesus, re- 
ceive my spirit,' and quickly sunk many feet under water, 
without the least or most distant hope of asiain seein": the 
light, but with the fullest assurance I had taken a last view 
of transient objects, and, till the last trump summoned all 
hands, I should rise no more. My senses, with my breath, 
also forsook me, and, for a moment, my mind was filled with 
the most singular and delightful sensations, seemingly in an 
enrapturing dream. This, however, was as momentary as it 
was wonderful. Whether from the violence of a wave, which 
then broke over me, or by the pain of the wounds and chill 
of the water, I am not certain by what means, I was soon 
brought to my senses, and rose again to the surface seem- 
ingly refreshed ; on looking around I distinctly discovered, a 
few fathoms from me, as if supernaturally thrown in my way, 
something large and light, for it kept constantly above the 
waves. I exerted my remaining power, and reached it. It 
was a large crate, containing nothing but straw ; clinging to 
this, I soon recovered breath, as its buoyancy kept it high 
above the seas. After holding to this some length of time, 
and constantly turning it round, as my weight pulled it over 
towards me, I still kept courage, and dropped myself fre- 
quently down, without quitting my hold, with the earnest 
hope of touching the bottom, but without success. I was 
much fatigued, and could scarcely keep hold of the crate, 
for every sea would sweep us at least ten feet before it. I 
had almost despaired of the land's being near, and was fear- 
ful that at last it might prove only a shoal. Still, however, 



JOO MR. GEORGE FRACKEr's NARRATIVE. 

holding on with hopeless indifference, I soon after observed 
a sudden lull, and that~the waves were not a third so violent. 
I shook myself, and roused my drowsy spirits, looked round, 
and found myself inside the breakers ! I quickly again 
dropped myself down, and with my foot touched the ground. 
I found it was of sand, and in a few moments I got up to 
about breast higli in the water, and then, by shoving myself 
forward by leg and arms, soon crawled out upon the beach. 
Thus, after being more than half an hour in the water, and 
making my way, for nearly three quarters of a mile, through 
a tremendous sea, at midnight, I at last found myself upon 
a desert beach, certain that no one could have reached ten 
fathoms from the ship, which, in an hour and a half after she 
first struck, was scattered in pieces on the strand. Some 
idea may be had of the violence of the elements, when not 
a single mast came on shore entire, and out of twenty-three 
persons, among whom were four stout African slaves, whose 
constant practice of swimming renders them almost amphibi- 
ous, but one body came on sliore that night. The remainder, 
buried by the first wave, came not on shore till nine days 
afterwards. 

" Amazed, and nearly stunned, I attempted to stand, but 
my leg refused its office, and I fell backward to the ground, 
hurt by the fall, and the blood streaming from several wounds. 
Half frantic with pain, and the severe wintry weather, a groan 
for the first time escaped me. Here, as I lay extended on 
the earth, I repeatedly wished for death, for his stroke would 
have been welcome. Then I could have met his face, not 
as the grim visage of the dread king of terrors, but as the 
hope-inspiring countenance of meek-eyed mercy. I con- 
sidered the fate of my companions far more happy than my 
own ; for their sufferings, though severe, were but moment- 
ary, while mine were perhaps to be protracted till struggling 
nature, slowly giving way, sunk under misery at its utmost 
stretch. Sufferings so acute I determined' not to endure. 
The dread alternative, therefore, was soon chosen, and I 
resolved to put an end to my existence by the first means 
chance should throw in my power. 

•' I had a firm opinion that the shore was a barren and 
desolate country, without inhabitants for a great distance, 
with no chance of being discovered, impenetrable from 



A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT. 101 

swamps and shrubbery ; and not being able to move with- 
out torture, I should certainly not survive till the morning. 
Groping my way at the edge of the water, I felt something 
large, and found, to my surprise, a pipe of wine ; here was 
the lowest part of the cargo on shore before me. I was 
upon the point of knocking my head against it, and dashing 
out my brains, but doubted my strength to give a blow suffi- 
cient. A second thought most happily struck me ; the cask 
was big enough to contain me, and by knocking in the head, 
if possible, would, if placed in a favorable position, be a 
complete shelter from the horrible cold. Hope once more 
brightened, and gave me triple vigor. Groping farther 
round, I found several sticks of wood, dunnage to the 
pipes, and taking up one, I got round to the upper head, 
and by repeated strokes made a breach, the wine spirted 
out through the crevices; I drank some, and then continued 
my strokes with renewed force. The head at last was en- 
tirely stove in, the wine washed out over me, the touch of 
which, to my frozen carcass, was electric and most agree- 
able. I then placed two pieces of the head staves into the 
bilge or bottom of the cask, to make it square and level, and 
crowded in. It seemed and felt like an oven. I had all 
this time been partly in the water, at the edge of the surf, 
which now came into the cask at every wave, which kept 
me constantly throwing it out with my left hand, as I lay 
upon my back, as the least painful position. This labor I 
was obliged to continue, during the remainder of the nighty 
till towards morning, when the wind somewhat abated, the 
tide ebbed, and the surf retreating, no longer kept me bail- 
ing ; I was, however, too fatigued to remove. At daybreak 
I looked out of the cask, and beheld a large, sandy beach, 
covered, to a great extent, on each side of me, with the 
wreck ; but not a vestige of the ship, as long as the pump, 
or any thing moving, except the gulls. In fact I was as- 
sured, on first reaching the shore, that no mortal alone could 
make his way through such seas, in such a night, to the land. 
My own preservation I considered as falling but little short 
of a miracle. A shipwreck so sudden, an escape so singu* 
lar, the uproar I had witnessed, and the sight now before 
me, my scattered senses could scarcely conceive real : I for 
9"^ 



102 MR. GEORGE FRACKER S NARRATIVE. 

some time actually doubted myself awake, for it seemed like 
a horrible dream. 

" I then again composed myself in the cask, and, owing 
to pain, the fumes of the wine, and great exertion, I re- 
mained during this day nearly insensible, and in a trance- 
like stupor. Towards sunset, I was fearful of being carried 
away by the return of the water, during the approaching 
night, with the pipe. In this dangerous situation I reluc- 
tantly crawled out of the cask, and holding up my useless 
leg, from trailing on the ground, and hitching myself back- 
ward, with my right hand, I gained in this manner the foot of 
a sand hill, further up the beach. I crawled up this as high 
as my strength w^ould permit, to be free from the reach of the 
sea, and as night was now fast approaching, it was in vain to 
look farther for a shelter. Finding no refuge above the 
ground, I resolved to seek one below it, and dug a large 
hole in the sand, on the top of the hill, got into it, and, with 
my disabled leg undermost, pulling and raking the sand over 
me, lay down. " The sand and a shirt were my only cover- 
ing. The weather w^as extremely cold, the sand wet, and 
during the night it rained and blew tremendously ; the wet 
sand, drifting around in smothering showers, covered every 
part of me, and repeatedly filling my hair, ears, nose, eyes, 
and mouth, kept me constantly spitting it out to prevent 
suffocation ; while the weather compelled me to sit up and 
thrash myself, every ten minutes, to prevent freezing. Once 
I resolved to shift my position, to get under the lee, or into 
some hollow upon the sheltering side, and I accordingly 
crawled to some distance, I knew not in what direction, 
owing to extreme darkness, and made another hole, then 
thrashing my arms for some time, again lay down, covering 
myself, as before, with sand, to resist the cold. Such was 
my bed, and such the manner in which I passed this night, 
alone, on a desert beach, in a foreign land, while the wild 
beasts of the forest, with their consoling music, added an 
enchanting serenade ! 

" In the morning I looked around, and observed I had 
got to the other side of the sand hill, in sight of a low and 
marshy country, but saw no sign of habitation or cattle. I 
made shift to get out of the sand. I now took a survey of 
myself; I looked like nothing human, nothing in the like- 



FRESH WATER DISCOVERED. 103 

ness of any thing upon earth, or in the waters beneath ; 
covered with sores, which were filled with sand, as were 
also my hair, eyebrows, beard, and whiskers ; my leg 
swelled almost to the size of a wool-sack, my left wrist 
out of joint, and hand swelled and useless ; my feet swelled 
and wrinkled like tripe, from remaining so long in the 
water, and both painful from numerous wounds ; my body 
of all colors, as if a rainbow was w^rapped around me ; and 
withal nearly naked. I was indeed a fioure too shockino: 
to excite pity, too disabled to excite fear, and too mon- 
strous for any sensation but astonishment. I descended 
the slope of the hill, and slowly moved along for some time 
among the bushes that grew around, till I espied, at some 
distance, a low place among the grass and shrubbery, which 
I thought might contain water. In half an hour, resting at 
intervals, I reached it, and found to my great joy I was not 
deceived. The water was clear and excellent. I at first 
tried several different plans to get my mouth to the brook ; 
at last, lying at length on the ground, and rolling up to it, I 
succeeded. It was the most delicious draught I ever tasted. 
I drank an immoderate quantity, waited awhile, and drank 
again. Looking around, I saw nothing but what indicated 
a barren and inhospitable waste. I was therefore compelled 
to make my way over the sand hills, and regain the beach — 
a difficult task, which I, however, surmounted, and reached 
the beach about noon. 

" The weather v/as still inauspicious and cloudy, the gale 
not much abated, and the sea continued to roar. When 
descending the slope, I had seen, among the great mass of 
articles on the beach, a large wine-cask, which lay at a short 
distance, with one head stove in by the sea, the other facing 
the wind and sea, and the mouth near the hill, which was a 
shelter in front. This was a fine house for me, and, fortu- 
nately, just what I wanted. I made towards it, entered it, 
and lay down, being very weak and fatigued ; but I soon 
found the bare staves too hard for my bare bones and 
bruised carcass. I shortly after sallied out in search of a 
covering, and in hopes of finding some bed, mattress, or 
blanket, among the wreck. I took a survey of each side, 
and saw at a distance something that looked like a bed ; but 
on coming up to it, 1 found only a sack of white cotton wool, 



104 MR. GEORGE FRACKEr's NARRATIVE. 

wet and heavy, which I could not remove. I then returned 
to the cask, rested awhile, and took another survey. I soon 
saw, at a great distance down the 'beach, towards the water, 
some rolls of cotton bagging, of which we had a great num- 
ber on board ; and again I started out in pursuit. I was a 
long while in getting to them, and then found them so 
buried in the sand, that I was an hour in digging and clear- 
ing away the sand from around them. They were two large 
rolls, like bed-tickings, standing upright, with about twenty 
yards of one rolled round the other. I unrolled one from 
the other, when I found the inside one still wet. I pushed 
it down, and rolled it along before me, hitching myself up 
to it, and then pushing it from me again. Thus I got it up 
to the cask, and across its mouth, getting into which, I un- 
rolled eight or ten fathoms, laid. down in the cask, and pushed 
and spread it as I could underneath me. I then unrolled as 
much more, and covered myself with it. Though this was 
still wet, and covered, as was every thing else, with sand, I 
now thought myself very well off, and my situation very com- 
fortable, compared to that of the last thirty hours. 

" Darkness soon came on, and during this night extreme 
and raging thirst kept me awake, and pain kept me con- 
stantly shifting positions. Daylight at last appeared ; my 
powers were too feeble to undertake a journey over the hills 
to the watering-place, though I would have given my all, 
which was but a miserable remnant of life, for a draught of 
the life-giving element. I therefore resolved upon search- 
ing among the pipes of wine, to find one which had its 
bung inclining downward, that the wine might run out, 
if I could hammer out the bung. My hunger, however, 
almost equalled my thirst. While in my way to the wine, 
I espied, at a short distance out of my course, a small 
keg, which I thought might possibly contain salmon, of 
which we had several hundreds on board. I hitched to- 
wards it, but found it with one head out, and partly filled 
with sand. Nevertheless, I resolved to take it with me and 
fill it with wine. Coming to the casks, I found one that 
answered. I soon procured a billet of wood, struck out the 
bung, and applied my mouth to the hole, drinking a great 
quantity. I afterwards rinced the keg, and nearly filling it 
with wine, returned with it slowly to the cask. I set it out- 



i 



THE TIME BEGUILED BY SINGING. 107 

side, and crawled in, and began to ruminate upon my con- 
dition. I found it would be impossible, without succor, to 
move much longer about, and determined to remain at home 
during the remainder of the day ; and if sufficient strength 
remained on the next, as my only chance of relief, to rig a 
kind of signal with a pole or small spar, of which there were 
many, and a piece of cotton stuff for a flag, that, if any 
vessel should approach near enough, she might observe it. 

''My first thought, of endeavoring to get off the small 
boat, which I saw at a great distance, and to rig a kind of 
sail, and steer for Monte Video, I now abandoned. It was 
a mad idea, and would have been impracticable, as the boat's 
bottom, I afterwards learnt, was stove in. I knew that tlie 
next day I should be unable to make a further search than I 
had done for provisions, as the method of getting along was 
slow and painful, being, as I before observed, by hitching 
myself backward with my right hand, and frequently stop- 
ping to thrash myself from the cold. And although nothing 
was more probable than that the first savage, who should 
discover me, would instantly murder me, as an impediment 
to plunder, I was prepared for his knife ; and that my ap- 
prehensions were not groundless, the sequel too mournfully 
shows. But a certain presentiment of relief still upheld my 
spirits, which were never less depressed than upon this oc- 
casion. I remembered that the great Director still had not 
forsaken me, since ' God is ever present, ever felt, in the 
wide waste, as in the city full.' Every thing therefore con- 
sidered, to Wait with fortitude the will of Heaven, was my 
ultimate determination. I was now more comfortably situ- 
ated than at any previous period, and I began to amuse my- 
self by singing a few songs. I had a covering inside, and a 
keg of good wine outside. One song, if not with energy, 
was sung with great feeling: it was the well-known and 
classical song of ' How blest a life a sailor leads,' &c. 
After this, by repeated drinking, owing to my excessive 
thirst, I was thrown into a doze of about half an hour. I 
soon awoke, and, to beguile my feelings, began upon a 
psalm tune, and sung several, to quiet the emotions caused 
by hunger, thirst, and pain. It was now three days and 
nights since I had tasted food, and my taper of life began 
to glimmer in the socket. How I survived these scenes of 



108 MR. GEORGE FRACKEr's NARRATIVE. 

accumulated misery so long, when but barely alive on first 
gaining the shore, I scarcely can tell ; the retrospect even 
now astonishes me. But frail mortality could resist no 
longer. My strength had utterly failed. I hailed the ap- 
proaching night as the termination of my cares, considered 
the mean covering over me as my shroud, and the cask as 
my coffin, and waited with fortitude the hour of dissolution. 
But the next was the hour of deliverance ! 

^' About four o'clock, on the afternoon of Saturday, the 
auspicious 20th of September, I was aroused from my reve- 
ries by the sound of a horse's feet. Uncertain and careless 
who appeared, whether a friend or an enemy, I waited his 
approach with calmness, being absolutely inditferent in my 
choice, ' to sleep or die.' At the next moment, a horse with 
a rider stopped before the cask. I hailed in Spanish faindy, 
^Amigo,' (friend.) He instantly alighted, and, struck at such 
a ghastly spectacle, as I then exhibited, he recoiled a few 
paces backward. Recovering soon from his dismay, by see- 
ing my helpless condition, he advanced, and stooped to learn 
by what strange means I had outlived the general wreck. 
He was a young man, a Creole, or half Indian, of benevo- 
lent features, and dressed partly in the Indian method. I 
told my tale in a few words, concluding by asking him the 
distance of a habitation, and the possibility of my reaching 
it; if he could bring assistance that day, and promising that 
he should be rewarded for his kindness. ' In a few hours,' 
said he, ' I can return with assistance, as the next rancho, or 
hut, is but little more than a league.' He then expressed 
his surprise at my providential escape, made the sign of the 
cross on his breast, praised St. George as my special pre- 
server,- said I was fortunate in speaking the language so 
fluently, and that I was greatly so in being discovered by 
him, whose mother, he said, lived at the nearest cottage, 
whither I should be conveyed. He said if I had fallen into 
the hands of the savages, they would certainly have de- 
spatched me, for they were merciless and ferocious. ' But 
first,' added he, ' I'll bring you something to eat, for you 
look half starved.' In about an hour he reappeared, bring- 
ing a warm sausage and some mouldy bread, wrapped up in 
a towel. I greedily seized it, thinking I could devour it at 
once, but was disappointed to find I could not swallow a 



CONVEYED TO A PLACE OF SAFETY. 109 

mouthful, my throat being contracted, close, and sore. As 
he was planning the means of my removal, I left it wholly 
to his care, and only requested to be conveyed to a place of 
shelter and safety. He then made his lasso, a line of green 
hide, with which they catch wild horses, fast to the handle 
of the largest trunk, and drove off. Shortly after he had 
gone, a savage, or Guacha, of a fierce and murderous coun- 
tenance, rode up, alighted from his horse, and roughly asked 
who I was. I replied, 'A shipv/recked seaman.' 'Are you 
the captain ? ' 'No,' I answered, 'I was the mate, and had 
previously been discovered by a person who had just left 
me to return with assistance,' He asked me the road he 
took. I told him, when he sprang upon his horse and gal- 
loped off in the direction the other had taken. 

" He soon after reappeared at the cask, with some others, 
seemingly with a resolution of putting me to instant death : 
but, most happily, the reappearance of my deliverer, w^ith 
his father and several skives, compelled them to alter their 
design, and they went off to plunder, abandoning their hor- 
rid purpose. My friend advised me to permit him to dress 
me in some clothes from a passenger's trunk, which they 
then broke open, alleging that, in my present appearance, I 
should be taken for a common sailor, and that, clothed in a 
decent manner, I should gain among tliem more advantage, 
respect, and comfort. I accordingly suffered the painful 
operation of dressing, but my leg, being so greatly swelled, 
prevented my getting over it any thing but a pair of loose 
drawers. I also got on a surtout and waistcoat. I was 
then with difficulty lifted upon the back of a horse, and my 
discoverer got up before me. Holding on to hiiu, I had 
strength sufficient to keep myself in an upright position. I 
had just been seated on the back of the animal when the 
general, (Ortigues,) who commanded the troops in that 
quarter, came up with a guard of soldiers and several 
others. 

" We arrived, at last, near dusk, at a small cottage. A 
number of large dogs gave notice of our approach, but were 
soon silenced by my companions, who assisted me gently to 
dismount. I was welcomed, with many blessings, by the 
old woman, carried into the house, seated in a chair, and 
stripped of my wet clothes, and put into as good a bed as 
10 



\ 



110 



MR. GEORGE FRACKER S NARRATIVE. 



the hut afforded. This rancho was a small place of only 
one apartment, built, like all others, of cane, fastened to- 
gether with strips of green hide, plastered with mud, and a 
thatched roof. A fowl was killed by the old woman, and 
some good broth made and given me. After this, my leg 
was washed with hot vinegar, and my wounds dressed as 
well as circumstances would admit. I considered myself as 
peculiarly fortunate in falling into the hands, and being 
under the care of, one of those alleviators of calamity, 
those indispensable attendants of the bed of sickness, where 
is developed the most estimable and endearing traits of 
character, usefulness, patience, and compassion, — a hos- 
pitable old woman. During the night I drank a great 
quantity both of wine and water. The old woman had 
wrapped two junk bottles, filled with boiling water, and 
placed them against my feet, at the foot of the bed. My 
feet were much swollen and wrinkled, and almost without 
feeling. The sudden application of artificial heat to the 
blood, though well intended, had a most pernicious effect, 
stagnating, corrupting, and destroying its natural tempera- 
ture, and causing great pain : its effects were felt for many 
months afterwards. This night I slept but little. The rays 
of the sun, breaking into the room, announced the morning 
of the Sabbath, and I could, in truth, hail it as a welcome 
and sweet day of rest. 

" I now took a view of the apartment and furniture. The 
room was partly separated by a partition of cane-poles ; in- 
side of which slept the old woman and her two younger 
sons, upon the floor, as there was but one bedstead, upon 
which I lay. Her eldest son, my discoverer, lay near me, 
wrapped up in his pauncho or blanket. At the farther end 
of the hovel was kept constantly burning, upon a table, on 
each side of a crucifix, two candles, which is an invariable 
custom when any one lies dangerously sick. A separate 
hut for the kitchen was built outside. The furniture con- 
sisted of a few hide-bottomed chairs, some hide sacks and 
baskets, a hide sieve, and a few other articles, of which hide 
was the principal material. 

*' The next day the general again came, bringing with him 
several bottles of wine and cordial, taken from the beach. 
I desired him to inform me if it was possible to send a let- 



HORRID APPEARANCE OF THE INDIANS. Ill 

ter to Monte Video. He replied that it was difRcult, as 
there was but Httle intercourse, but that he knew of a patriot 
officer, who, having a passport, would, in a few days, go to 
the city. I therefore, next day, procured of the old woman 
materials for writing, and a chopping-block ; this I placed 
between my legs on the bed, covering it with a piece of 
baize, and commenced writing. It was a tedious business, 
and I could sit up no longer than to write one line at a 
time. I, however, finished this necessary duty, and wrote 
two letters, one directed to W. P. White, Esq., who was 
the only person I was acquainted with in Monte Video, and 
another to the owners, in Buenos Ayres. These I gave 
to the general, who in two days forwarded them to the 
capital. 

*' My discoverer, Pedro, was employed this day, with two 
slaves, in recovering some articles and provisions from the 
beach, which, he said, was now covered with natives, break- 
ing open trunks, chests, and bales of goods; staving in 
casks of wine, when any wanted to drink, and exhibiting a 
confused scene of plunder, fighting, and wanton waste. 

" The Indians here are generally of great size, long black 
hair, hanging like snakes down their shoulders, long bushy 
beards and mustaches ; a coarse blanket wrapped round the 
middle, and another, with a hole, through which they thrust 
their heads, hung down their backs ; a turban, or handker- 
chief, on their heads, horse-skin boots, stripped from the 
animal's leg, and worn raw into the shape of the feet. 
These, with a sword nearly a fathom long, in an iron scab- 
bard, gave them a most horrible appearance. They, in- 
deed, looked like demons. All wore large knives, stuck in 
a sheath in their blanket behind, which they made use of 
for every purpose — to kill cattle, cut up beef, eat meat, and 
stab their fellow-creatures. The general came, in the even- 
ing, with several soldiers, and, at our earnest request, left a 
guard of three for our defence, who were well armed. 

" I had, about this time, a great many visitors, who all 
considered me highly favored by my patron saint, to whom 
they attributed my ' hair-breadth 'scapes.' Among them 
were many old women, who came upon horseback from dif- 
ferent parts to barter their commodities. A consultation 
was held among them respecting my fever, leg, and bruises ; 



112 MR. GEORGE FRACKEr's NARRATIVE. 

and they recommended a large leaf of an herb, which grows 
in those countries, which, dipped in hot oil and vinegar, had 
a wonderful and salutary effect. Although the application 
was acutely painful during several nights, the swelling greatly 
subsided, excepting about the knee. During this time, I 
could not shift positions without great pain ; and I could 
instantly perceive a change of the wind upon the least mo- 
tion, from electric pain. It was the work of half an hour 
to turn, sometimes, in bed. My appetite was raging, and 
though I could not get so much as I wanted, owing ^o the 
care of my attendants, I ate immense quantities, and drank 
all that came within my reach ; always keeping bottles of 
liquor under my pillow, for my night's supply. I kept one 
small boy constantly bringing water, of which, during ten 
days, I believe I drank fifty gallons, besides half a dozen 
bottles of cordial, a dozen of wine, ten gallons of the same 
in a keg, and several bottles of other liquors, all of which 
Pedro had saved from the beach. I would frequently whistle 
and sing, to beguile the pain, and the old woman would ask 
the reason. I told her I sung to kill the pain ; but I saw 
she often thought, from my strange behavior, that my fever 
and anguish had rendered me delirious. My apprehension, 
however, of the savages, in this weak state, and nervous 
debility of body and mind, gave me incessant anxiety ; ex- 
pecting every night that they would break in, and knowing 
their merciless ferocity. The constant barking of the watch- 
ful dogs, giving notice of their approach, sounded like a 
summons bell. One night, when all had retired to rest, and 
the guards lay snoring upon the floor, the dogs set up a 
roaring yell, and soon after we heard the approach of foot- 
steps, and a violent thumping at the door. Pedro aroused 
the guards and opened it, and the guards and old woman 
prepared for defence. I saw by the moonshine five hideous- 
looking fellows, armed with swords and bayonets, standing 
before the door. A sharp parley ensued between them and 
the guard. They thought proper to make a speedy retreat, 
steahng, in their way, a horse from the field. 

*'On the eighth day, I was agreeably reheved by the arrival 
of two clerks, an Englishman and a Spaniard, from Monte 
Video, in consequence of receiving my letter, from the house 
of the consignees, in order to effect my removal to the city, 



DEPARTURE FOR MONTE VIDEO. 113 

and endeavor to secure some part of the property. The 
latter they found totally impossible, nothing of value being 
found on the strand, every thing having been carried off up 
country by the natives. I was extremely rejoiced at their 
appearance, and we concerted plans for my departure. 
They slept one night at the hut, and next day, Sunday, 
departed ; having seen sufficient of the character of the 
natives, and glad that they had escaped the knives of the 
Guachas, and vowing they would not venture their lives 
again, among such a murderous crew, for the value of a 
ship and cargo. 

*• The cannibals were daily and hourly growing more in- 
exorable, and the danger every moment increased. I had 
every reason to believe that on this night they intended to 
make a desperate attack upon the cottage, and to have mur- 
dered all in their power, had not the fortunate arrival, at 
about sunset, of the long-wished-for cart, with a driver and 
guide, both armed, put them in fear. These w^ere a valu- 
able addition to our force, and this night, during which they 
slept in the hut, I felt less apprehensive of danger. To 
death, and to danger the most terrific, I had been exposed, 
and had faced them with manly fortitude. I had escaped 
from wild beasts, and met the fury of the elements without 
shrinking ; but the horrid prospect of having my flesh gashed 
and lacerated, and my limbs cut asunder, by the knives of 
the savages, gave me infinite anguish ; and boiling with rage 
and indignation, I could almost, at times, had it been in 
my power, have made indiscriminate destruction, and, like 
Samson of old, have sacrificed my life to relieve it from 
such a state of torturing suspense, and to take revenge upon 
the bloodthirsty ruffians. 

" The tenth day came, and we were to depart. A great 
number of blankets and coverings were thrown over me 
after I was in the cart. I shook the hands of the kind old 
woman and my deliverer most heartily. A crowd of rising 
emotions almost stifled my expressions of gratitude, and 
started the tears of overpowered feelings. I left them with 
fervent benedictions, and we drove off slowly on our way, 
and arrived about two o'clock at the gates of Monte Video. 
The novelty of the sight drew many to the windows, as I 
lay upon my back in the cart, fairly exposed to their view 
10* 



■114 MR. GEORGE FRACKEr's NARRATIVE. 

and wonder. We stopped at the house of an English mer- 
chant, the consignee, who immediately came out, and with 
many friendly congratulations, assisted his slaves in carrying 
me up stairs. 

" Here I was confined for nearly twenty days, and my leg 
was now shrunk and withered to as great an extreme as it 
was swelled before. By unexampled kindness I daily im- 
proved, and in three weeks was able to leave the room, and 
sit outside the chamber upon the walk. One of the owners 
of the ship happening, at this time, to be in Monte Video, 
speedily came to visit me and hear the account of the loss 
of his ship. When I had finished, and when he had heard 
of the hospitality of the old woman at the cottage, he im- 
mediately proposed a subscription among the merchants for 
her recompense and relief, regardless of his own loss, though 
he was half owner of the ship, and that uninsured. 

" While under this hospitable roof, all that could con- 
tribute to alleviate pain, every thing that could add to my 
convenience and comfort, kindness, which left not a wish 
ungratified, I enjoyed in its fullest extent. Though a dis- 
tressed foreigner, I was treated as a brother ; and though a 
stranger, ever welcome to their board. For three weeks, 
while on the bed of sickness, I was visited every morning 
by the worthy merchant, who with his own hands would 
dress my wounds, thus emulating the example of the good 
Samaritan. 

" It would be well if here I could conclude, and if here 
the hapless tale was ended ; but, as a faithful narrator, I am 
constrained to give its melancholy sequel. After I had been 
in Monte Video about six weeks, I received the shocking 
intelligence that, on the night of the same day on which I 
left the cottage, the barbarous and merciless savages attacked 
and entered the hut of the old woman, and finding no oppo- 
sition, as the guards had gone to the encampment, plundered 
the hut of all she possessed, wounded the slaves who op- 
posed them, and after repeatedly stabbing my worthy de- 
liverer, finished with cutting his throat from ear to ear! 
How just are the words of the poet, — ' The ways of Heaven 
are dark and intricate. Man, puzzled in mazes and per- 
plexed with errors, sees not with how much art the windings 
turn, nor where the regular confusion ends.' 



ARRIVAL HOME. GRATIFYING RECEPTION. 115 

*' I was now rapidly gaining strength ; my leg I could 
bear my weight on, and after remaining here for two 
months, I was able to take passage for Buenos Ayres, 
distant about a hundred and ten miles farther up, and upon 
the opposite side of the river. I arrived there next day, 
and found a great number of acquaintance, who were very 
kind and friendly. A subscription was directly handed 
round among the English merchants, by the goodness of 
the owners, and about four hundred dollars were subscribed 
and collected for my benefit. Two hundred dollars were 
likewise collected for the relief of the old woman at the 
cottage, and about two hundred more previously in Monte 
Video, and sent down to her. 

" I remained some months in Buenos Ayres, on account 
of lameness, and sailed from thence July 12th, 1818, and 
arrived at Baltimore on the twelfth of September. 

" On Sunday morning, October 4th, I arrived at my 
native place, Boston, after an absence of over two years ; 
when I fully experienced the truth of the observation, that 
the unavoidable evils and misfortunes of life afford, by their 
contrast, a tenfold relish to its comforts, which are many, 
but which before were unprized. 

" The meeting of relatives must be conceived. I will 
only add, that, safe in the embrace of parents and friends, 
forgotten, like a dream, were the perils of the oceanJ' 



I 




THE REMARKABLE NARRATIVE 



SHIP SEA FOX, 

Which was capsized by a Squall in the Atlantic 
Ocean ; with the Sufferings of Four of the Crew 
who were confined in the Forecastle three Days; 
and their Kescue from this Perilous Situation, by 
cutting through the Deck, October, 1821. 




^HE following remarkable narrative will 
be read with much interest. The ship 
Sea Fox sailed from New York, Oc- 
tober 27, 1821, bound to Port-au- 
Prince, with twenty persons on board, 
of whom eleven were passengers. She 
passed the Narrows in safety, and having 
dismissed her pilot about noon, proceeded on her voyage, — 
the wind being south-west, and the sky overcast, during the 
day and night. As evening approached, her commander. 
Captain Wyer, took the usual precautions, by sending down 
the royal masts and royal rigging, and taking in topgallant- 
sails ; he also remained himself on the watch till twelve at 
night, when he was succeeded by the mate, and retired to 
rest. The passengers were now in the cabin, and four of 
the seamen in the forecastle. All seemed secure, and the 
ship was moving prosperously towards her destined port, 
when she was suddenly struck, at twenty minutes past 
twelve o'clock, by a squall. The noise awakened the 
captain. He sprang upon deck, gave orders to let go the 
topsail-halliards and call up all hands ; but in attempting to 
let go the spanker-sheet, he lost his hold, and was precipi- 
tated into the waves ; and before either of his orders could 
be executed, the ship was struck down on her beam-ends. 



UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR THE WRECK. 117 

So unexpected and sudden was the catastrophe, that only 
three passengers had time to escape from the cabin, and not 
one of the seamen from the forecastle. Captain Wyer suc- 
ceeded in regaining the ship ; but finding her upon her 
beam ends, and apparently full of water, he, with the re- 
maining seamen and passengers, cleared the boat, in 
which they all embarked, and kept under the lee of the 
wreck until daylight. We shall not attempt to describe his 
emotions, and those of his companions, during those hours 
of painful reflection and of peril. It was no common dis- 
aster over which they were called to mourn, nor common 
hazard to which they were now exposed. As daylight, 
however, approached, they providentially discovered a ship 
to the southward, which proved to be the Iris, Captain 
Smith, of New York, by whom they were observed and 
taken up. Captain Smith turned his course towards the 
wreck, but perceiving, on coming near, that the sea made a 
complete breach over it, he concluded it would be fruitless 
to attempt saving any thing. Captain Wyer, with his com- 
panions, was soon put on board a schooner from Philadel- 
phia, which landed them at Tarpaulin Cove the second day 
after their disaster. When she upset, her topsails, courses, 
spanker, and jib, were set. No axe was to be had to cut 
away the masts. The deck load consisted of two hundred 
barrels of provisions, and lumber. The dead lights not 
being in, the water rushed with great violence into the 
cabin. There were lost Mr. Easterbrook, wife, and two 
children. Miss Dawson, of New York, and servant, and two 
other passengers. The night was uncommonly dark, and 
the sea rough. Mr. Dawson, who escaped from the cabin, 
but attempted in vain to bring out his sister, got into the 
mizzen-chains, where he remained till the morning. 

The account, which was immediately published, of the 
loss of the Sea Fox, excited in New York very uncommon 
interest, and not a little anxiety. It was suggested by 
some, that a part of the passengers in the ship might pos- 
sibly be alive ; and large sums were offered for the bodies 
of those on board, whether dead or alive. Two pilot boats 
were immediately despatched in search of the wreck ; but 
they returned into port without having so much as discov- 
ered it; and all hopes were relinquished of again hearing 



r 



118 THE LOSS OF THE SEA FOX. 

from those left on board. But there is nothing too hard 
for God to effect ; and to his good providence must we 
ascribe it, that any were in the mean time saved from 
perishing. 

It has been already noted, that there were four seamen 
in the forecastle of the Sea Fox when she capsized. They 
had been but a short time below when the disaster occurred. 
Aware of their situation, they flew to the scuttle, and made 
a desperate attempt to remove the booby hatch, but in vain ; 
the sea was against it, and the water pouring in on every side: 
within a few minutes it became necessary to use the greatest 
exertion to keep from drowning. They were enveloped in 
perfect darkness, sometimes under water, with no space of 
air to breathe in, and nothing before them but the prospect 
of immediate death. After a few struggles, their minds 
were filled with indescribable horror. In this situation they 
all cried unto God for help. He heard their supplication, 
and directed them to the bulk-head of the forecastle, where 
they found two of the planks loose enough to be removed, 
and the cargo so much shifted to the leeward, as to leave a 
space sufficient for them to pass into the hold. After being 
here for some time, in total darkness, one of them having a 
knife, they cut a hole through the deck, which admitted a 
few rays of light, but not enough to discover any thing 
which they could obtain to eat. They then gave themselves 
to incessant and united prayer to God, until they became 
extremely weak through want of food and sleep. 

Providentially, the hatch was about this time removed 
from the small hatchway, which enabled them to descry a 
barrel of flour and a keg of lard within their reach. To 
these they got access, and in some measure satisfied their 
hunger. They had now been struggling for two days and 
nights, without food or rest, in almost total darkness, and at 
no time with more than two feet of air above the water. 
They continued still to agonize in prayer, but on the third 
day nature seemed near being exhausted ; it was believed 
impossible for them to remain there much longer alive. 
Before resigning themselves into the arms of death, they 
agreed to unite in one more prayer to Almighty God for 
some relief. They did so, and while thus engaged, one of 
them says to his companions, " The Lord has heard our 



(i , 






'f,-^!' 



/V-, 



S (' 



f: 



I I 






vv 
'I I'll,; 




THE FOUR MEN ARE RESCUED. 121 

supplications, and will take us out of this place. Continue 
in prayer,^'' 

While thus engaged, they actually heard the voices of 
persons on board ; upon this, they ran a stick through the 
hole which had been cut, and, exerting all their remaining 
strength to make a noise, succeeded in attracting the notice 
of those who had boarded the wreck. Axes were immedi- 
ately brought, and by cutting a hole in the deck, these four 
men were rescued from death, after being confined in the 
most fearful situation, from about one o'clock on Saturday 
night, till five, P. M., of the following Tuesday. 

The individuals, to whom they were immediately indebted 
for this deliverance, were a part of the crew of the ship John 
and Adam, Captain Knight, bound to Philadelphia. By 
Captain Knight, and afterwards by the citizens of Philadel- 
phia, they were treated with much kindness and hospitality. 
The citizens of New York also made a valuable donation to 
Captain Knight and his crew, for the humanity which they 
exhibited. But the pious mind will perceive that a remark- 
able Providence directed the whole affair. Is it not very 
remarkable that the Sea Fox should have lain, for so long a 
time, on her beam ends without sinking ? Is it not equally 
so, that four seamen were allowed air sufficient to breathe 
in ? that they found their way into the hold and possessed 
themselves of necessary food ? and that the crew of the 
John and Adam came to their assistance at the most critical 
moment ? 

This narrative affords an example in favor of committing 
our interests to God in prayer. He observes the character 
and circumstances of all men, and he has pledged himself 
to hear their fervent and persevering supplications. He did 
hear the cry of the four seamen imprisoned in the hold of 
the Sea Fox ; and it is charitably hoped, that so great a de- 
liverance will not fail to make a solemn and durable impres- 
sion upon their minds. But who, that reads this account, 
will not acknowledge, and deeply feel, that it is the privi- 
lege of all men, and of himself in particular, to render unto 
God the homage which is his due ? It is God who can pre- 
serve us in safety amidst the dangers of the sea, and of the 
land. Let the mariner, who is exposed to a thousand acci- 
dents and to sudden death, think of this ; let him make the 
11 



122 



THE LOSS OF THE SEA FOX. 



God of the ocean his friend, and he will have no occasion 
to fear ; let him secure to himself the anchor of the Chris- 
tian's hope, and no tempest will ever prevent his reaching 
the destined port of everlasting bliss. 




I 



1 



EXTRACT FROM THE LOG-BOOK 

OF THE 

SHIP OGLETHORPE, 




Which was struck by Lightiiing, during a Voraoc 
from Sayanuah to Liverpool; being an Account 
of the Proceedings on Board of that Vessel, when 
on Fire, December, 1818. 



N the preservation of the Oglethorpe, Cap- 



tain Jayne, which was struck by Hght- 
ning and set on fire, we may see, in the 
most striking manner, the wonders which 
may be effected, through God's blessing, 
by skill, and union, and resolute, perse- 
This ship must have 




124 PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD OF THE OGLETHORPE. 



had an excellent commander, and a steady, orderly, obedi- 
ent crew. From this instance seamen may learn never to 
despair. 

This ship sailed from Savannah for Liverpool, December 
16, 1818. The following is an extract from her log-book. 

'' Saturday, Dec. 27, 1818. These twenty-four hours 
commence with fresh breezes and squally ; at two, P. M., 
our mainmast was struck with lightning ; in about ten 
minutes, found the ship to be on fire ; called all hands, 
took in all sail but the close-reefed maintopsail, and laid 
the ship to, with her head to the south ; all hands now 
employed clearing out the steerage, if possible, to get at 
the fire ; got up the small bower cable, and many other 
things, in order to break out cotton, which we found very 
difficult to do. At three o'clock, sent a man aloft to look 
out, who returned in a few minutes and saw nothing; we 
then commenced to hoist out cotton on deck. At half 
past three o'clock, was so stifled with smoke we were 
obliged to retreat from between decks, — at this time it 
appeared almost impossible to save the ship, — shut the 
cabin, gangway, and steerage hatch. All communication 
with the cabin was prevented by smoke. Called all hands 
aft, and told them they must be collected, and now prepare 
the boat to leave the ship. Sent a man aloft, who descried 
a sail apparently standing down for us ; set our ensign, 
union down, at the main-topgallantmast-head, it blowing a 
gale, accompanied with heavy rain. At half past four, the 
boat was ready for hoisting out, with some provisions, com- 
pass, charts, quadrant, and many little things that would be 
useful. We now assembled together on the quarter-deck, 
as then it appeared, for the last time, to consult. The crew 
were very steady, and executed their orders promptly. The 
decks, in a line directly across the ship, now became so 
heated that the pitch began to ooze out from the seams of 
the decks. We supposed, from appearances, that the plank 
was nearly burnt through ; suggested, at this time, the only 
and last resort, to cut holes through the deck and pour 
water down, in which we were fortunate enough to succeed. 
From side to side we found, from the upper to the lower 
deck, the ship entirely in flames ; and it was with the great- 
est difficulty we could prevent it from communicating on 
deck through the holes. At five, we now perceived the fire 



THE FIRE EXTINGUISHED. 125 

had abated in some measure. On the larboard side, it being 
to leeward; the water had run to more advantage. 

" We then got the ship before the wind for a short time, 
and found that we had cut the holes from the side directly 
over the principal line of the fire ; being guided by the dry- 
ness of the deck and pitch rising from the seams. At half 
past five, we opened the steerage hatch, and found in a short 
time the smoke much abated : we could not, however, as yet 
endure the smoke, so as to work at the cotton in the steer- 
age : we kept applying water and cutting through the deck. 
At six, lay to again, with our head to the south. No man 
could now remain but a short time in the steerage ; by per- 
severance, however, we came to the cotton that was entirely 
on fire, at half past six, and by breaking it down, the bag- 
ging being burnt off, the smoke arising almost suflfocated us ; 
being obHged to pass up in our arms the cotton on fire on 
deck ; it blowing a gale at the time, it was with the greatest 
difficulty we could get the loose cotton overboard, the wind 
scattering it over the ship fore and aft, which was on fire ; 
and a number of bales on fire around and near the ship; — 
indeed, she appeared to be enveloped in flames. We were 
now compelled to come from below, and heave over, as fast 
as possible, the cotton that was on fire on the decks ; at the 
same time, kept the ship off nearly before the wind, to get 
clear of the cotton on fire and afloat around the ship, which 
was blowing in streaks in the air. At seven, hove to again, 
having got the decks clear and the ship free of the cotton 
on fire around her; commenced again between decks break- 
ing cotton ; the fire having gained much during our stay on 
deck, we could but a few minutes at a time remain near it, 
being almost strangled with smoke ; one man and a boy gave 
up, who were completely exhausted ; and all of us at times 
were obliged to quit for air. Our situation, at this time, was 
distressing indeed. At eight the smoke had much abated, 
but the cotton we broke out very much on fire. At nine 
we labored with great success, as the smoke lessened ; and 
it was apparent that we had gotten at the worst of the fire. 
This gave new life to the crew, and they exerted themselves 
to much advantage. At half past nine it was pretty evident 
we had put the fire out, and had all the cotton between 
decks overboard. It blew at this time a severe gale ; and, 
11 * 



126 PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD OF THE OGLETHORPE. 

the ship again being very miicli exposed from the cotton 
on fire, on deck and afloat, blowing all around her, kept her 
away for about half an hour, until we lost the cotton on 
fire. Took in tiie close-reefed main-topsail and lay to, under 
the mizzen-staysail, with our head to the south-south-west; 
tried the pumps, and found the ship had made no water. 
The fire being arrested, we now took half an hour to refresh 
ourselves, and return thanks to almighty Providence for our 
escape. 

"At half past ten, we again commenced breaking out 
cotton, until we had a well-founded hope that the fire was 
entirely destroyed. We now commenced securing, with 
boards and canvass, the holes we had cut through the deck. 
At two, A. M., we had the decks as secure as we could 
make them. The crew being very much exhausted, and 
some of them almost blind, sent them below to rest ; except 
one man. At eight, A. M., rather more moderate — called 
all hands and set the foresail ; and kept her before the wind. 
On examining about the mainmast, we could not perceive 
that it was injured in the least, or trace any marks where the 
lightning entered below the deck, or any place where it left 
the ship. One of the stanchions, between decks, is burnt 
off; one ceiling, and about one fourth of a beam, directly 
across the ship. The lower deck, in one place, is burnt 
throuojh within half an inch. Had the fire communicated 
to the lower hold, the ship would have been lost. So end 
these twenty-four hours. Employed all hands picking the 
loose cotton off the rigging, the blocks being choked with 
it fore and aft. Rainy, thick weather, wind west, with a 
heavy sea ; no observation. Since clearing up the decks, we 
find we shall miss about forty bags of cotton." 




THE WRECK 



AMERICAN WHALE-SHIP MENTOR 

ON THE 

CORAL REEFS OF THE PELEW ISLANDS. 

¥ith the Captivity and Escape of Horace Holden and 
Benjamin H. Nute, who, for two Years, were Sub- 
jected to unheard-of Sufferings, among the barba. 
rous Inhabitants of Lord North's Island; May, 1832. 

VERY peculiar interest attaches to this 
narrative, both as a case of extreme 
and otherwise extraordinary individual 
suffering, and as it introduces us to a 
condition of life, in some respects, 
without a parallel in the annals of 
nautical discovery. 
In July, 1831, the ship Mentor, of New Bedford, Mass., 
Edward C. Barnard, master, sailed on a whaling voyage 
to the Indian Ocean. After touching at the Azores, she 
doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and passed through the 
Straits of Madagascar to the Indian Ocean. "After cruising 
among the islands, without success, we endeavored to pass 
through the Straits of Timor, in order to reach the Pacific 
Ocean, but were prevented by adverse winds and currents, 
and accordingly altered our course, intending to touch at 
Ternate, the principal of the Spice Islands ; but we passed 
it, running down the Island of Mortay, to its furthermost 
point, and altered the ship's course for the Ladrone Islands. 
" I must here observe that, soon after leaving the Island 
of Mortay, there came on a violent storm, which lasted the 
whole of three days and nights. During all this time, we 
were unable to take an observation. This led to the mel- 
ancholy disaster, which was the commencement of misfor- 
tunes and sufferings too great to be adequately conceived 
of by any but those Avho experienced them. The violence 




128 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 




The Ship JMentor overtaken by a Violent Storm. 



of the storm compelled us to take in all the sails except the 
topsail, which was close-reefed, foresail, and fore-topmast^ 
staysail. 

• ''We were sailing in this manner, not apprehending 
danger, when, about eleven o'clock at night, on the 21st of 
May, 1832, just at the time of relieving the watch, the ship 
struck with great violence upon what we afterwards found 
to be the coral reef, extending to the northward and east- 
ward of the Pelew Islands. The ship ran directly upon the 
rocks, and struck three times in quick succession, the waves 
dashing over and around us with tremendous violence. 

" At this awful moment, I was in my berth, in the steer- 
age. When the ship struck the third time, so great was 
the shock that I was thrown from my berth against the op- 
posite side of the steerage; but, soon recovering myself, I 
rushed upon deck. There all was confusion, horror, and 
dismay. The ship, immediately after striking the third 
time, swung round, so as to bring her starboard side to the 
windward, and was in a moment thrown upon her beam 
ends. While in this awful condition, with the waves con- 
tinually breaking over us, threatening to overwhelm us in a 
watery grave, or dash us in pieces against the rocks, the 



TEN OF THE CREW SWAMPED IN THE BOAT. 129 

captain came upon deck, and inquired of the second mate, 
'Where are we?' The reply was, ' I don't know, but I 
think there is land to leeward.' There was no time for 
deliberation ; it seemed that the immediate destruction of 
the ship was inevitable. 

" In the midst of this confusion I heard the mate give 
orders for lowering the larboard quarter-boat. His directions 
were immediately complied with, and ten of the crew threw 
themselves into it, thinking it more safe thus to commit 
themselves to the mercy of the waves, than to remain on 
board with the prospect of a certain and speedy termination 
of their existence. But there are reasons which force upon 
the mind the painful conviction, that their departure from 
the ship, at that time, proved fatal to them all. As the oars 
were fastened to the sides of the boat, some one asked for 
a knife, or hatchet, with which to cut them loose. The 
request was complied with ; and, quitting their hold upon 
the ship, they parted from us, and we never saw them 
more ! 

'' As some doubts have existed in the minds of those in- 
terested in the fate of our shipmates, who took to the boat 
in the manner just described, it is deemed advisable here to 
state my reasons for entertaining the opinion above express- 
ed. Far would it be from me to desire to extinguish any 
well-founded hopes of their having survived ; but a knowl- 
edge of the following facts renders it too certain that they 
must all have perished, soon after their departure from the 
ship. The next morning the remains of a boat, in every 
respect similar to that in which they embarked, were dis- 
tinctly seen on the rocks, at the distance of about fifty yards 
from the ship, bottom up, and with her sides stove in. The 
water being clear and shallow, we could see that she was 
held there by a harpoon and lance, which constituted a part 
of the fishing implements, or crafts, in the boat when she 
left. These were apparently stuck into the crevices of the 
coral rock, of which the whole reef is composed, either by 
accident or design ; and the presumption is, that she became 
fast in that place, and that the waves swept that portion of 
our companions in suffering into a watery grave. But this, 
though a melancholy subject of reflection, is not without 
some circumstances of consolation ; for, admitting that they 



130 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

thus met their fate, they were saved from that extremity of 
suffering which some of the ship's crew were destined to 
experience. Were such a death, or the pains of captivity 
endured by my associates and myself, to be the only alter- 
natives, I have doubted whether I should not prefer the 
former. To be far from kindred and friends, among a 
people but one grade above the most ferocious beasts, sick 
at heart, and deprived of necessary food, stripped of our 
clothing, and subjected to unheard-of severities, — to en- 
dure all this, was to purchase a continuance of life at a dear 
rate. 

" Soon after the departure of the first boat, the captain, 
thinking it impossible for the ship to hold together till morn- 
ing, ordered his own boat to be let down. This could be 
effected only by the united exertions of the whole of the 
remaining part of the crew. Some of the men, and myself 
among the rest, had resolved upon remaining on the ship to 
the last ; and, considering it impossible for a boat to live, we 
earnestly expostulated with the captain, for the purpose of 
persuading him not to hazard the experiment. But he 
seemed to think it best to make it, and with great earnest- 
ness entreated the men to assist him in lowering his boat. 
As this was a time when but little attention could be paid to 
the distinctions usually kept up on board, I suggested that 
it might be well to cut away the masts, believing that this 
would relieve the ship, and cause her to lie easier upon the 
rock. This was the more necessary, on account of her po- 
sition being such as to render it next to impossible to let 
down the boat. The proposal was acceded to ; and, seiz- 
ing an axe, I assisted in cutting away the masts and rigging. 
This, to some extent, had the desired effect ; and we were 
enabled, at length, by great exertion, to lower the boat. 
The captain, Charles C. Bouket, William Sedon, and 
William Jones, immediately placed themselves in it, and 
commenced preparing to leave us. In compliance with his 
request, a rope was fastened round the waist of the captain, 
so that, should the boat be destroyed, as there was reason 
to apprehend she would be, there might be some chance of 
rescuing him from the waves. They were furnished with 
the necessary nautical instruments, log-book, a bag of cloth- 
ing, a small quantity of bread in a tin tureen, and a keg of 



CAPTAIN BARNARD IS RESCUED FROM THE WAVES. 131 

water. The boat was at this time suspended by her falls, 
and, with a view of letting themselves down, the captain 
stood in the stern, and Bouket in the forward part of the 
boat, both having hold of the falls. Sedon still held on by 
the boat's lashing. Jones had nothing in his hands. At 
this conjuncture, a tremendous sea broke into the boat and 
dashed it in pieces ; — so entire was the destruction, that not 
a fragment was afterwards seen. Jones was soon after seen 
floating in tlie water, apparently dead. Sedon, in conse- 
quence of having hold of the boat's fastenings, saved him- 
self by climbing into the ship. Bouket, being an expert 
swimmer, on finding himself in the sea, swam round to the 
leeward side of the ship, caught hold of some part of the 
rigging, and thus escaped. The captain was drifted away 
to the distance of nearly one hundred and fifty yards. It 
was with the utmost difficulty that we retained our hold on 
the rope which had been fastened to him ; but at length we 
succeeded in drawing him in. On hearing his cries for 
assistance, forgetting our own danger, we redoubled our ex- 
ertions, and soon drew him on board. He was much ex- 
hausted, but, fortunately, had received no fatal injury. 

" After the failure of this attempt, and having in so short 
a time lost one half our number, it was agreed upon, after 
due consultation, to remain upon the wreck till daylight 
should reveal to us more fully our situation. In this state 
of suspense and suffering, we clung to the rigging, and with 
much difficulty kept ourselves from being washed away. 
Our situation and prospects, during that awful night, were 
such, that no ray of hope was permitted to penetrate the 
dreary prospect around us : our thoughts and feelings, 
wrought up to the highest degree of excitement by the 
horrors of our situation, continually visited the homes we 
had quitted, — probably forever, — and offered up prayers 
for the dear friends we had left behind. Every succeeding 
wave that dashed over us threatened to sweep us into an 
untried eternity ; and while we impatiently awaited approach- 
ing day, we committed our spirits to Him who alone could 
control the raging elements." 

At daybreak, land was seen at the distance of twenty 
or thirty miles ; and this the eleven survivors, with a few 
arms and a small stock of provisions, in their only remaining 



132 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



boat, decided to attempt to reach. They left the vessel, and, 
after rowing three miles, landed on a rock, presenting a sur- 
face of fifteen or sixteen rods in length. Here they remained 
over night. 

" We succeeded in taking an eel, a few crabs, and a small 
quantity of snails. Having our fire-works with us, we col- 
lected a sufficient number of sticks, with a few pieces of 
drift-wood which had lodged upon the rock, to make a fire ; 
with this we cooked our fish and snails ; and, with a small 
allowance of bread, we made what we then thought a sump- 
tuous repast ! After we had finished our meal, we began to 
prepare for the night. We erected a tent with some of our 
clothes and pieces of canvass, at a little distance from the 
boat ; and, when night came on, a part of our number kept 
watch, and the rest soon lost all consciousness of their mis- 
fortunes in sleep. About midnight those who had watched 
took their turn at resting ; and in the morning we found our- 
selves considerably refreshed ; though an increased activity 
of our minds served only to bring home a more vivid picture 
of the horrors of the previous night, and of our present con- 
dition." 

At sunrise, the next morning, a canoe, containing twenty- 
two natives, came oflf to them from the next island, from 
which, it seems, they had been watched. 
- *' Their appearance excited my astonishment, and I was 
filled with horror by the sight of beings apparently human, 
and yet almost destitute of the ordinary marks of humanity. 
They were entirely naked. Each one was armed with a 
spear and tomahawk; some had battle-axes. They were 
fantastically tattooed on diflferent parts of their bodies. 
Their hair, naturally coarse and black, like that of the In- 
dians of America, was very long, and hung loosely over 
their shoulders, giving them a singular and frightful ap- 
pearance. Their teeth were entirely black ; rendered so, 
as we afterwards found, by chewing what they call 
' ahooak: " 

The seamen were fortunate enough to open a friendly 
communication with their visitors, who gave them cocoa- 
nuts, and bread made of that fruit, and boiled in a liquor 
extracted from the trunk of the tree. Their friendship, 
however, though, under the circumstances, much better 



INTERVIEW WITH THE CHIEFS. 133 

than their hostiHty, proved to be of a very qualified char- 
acter. They took possession of all the small stock of 
rescued property which they could find, part having been 
secreted in a crevice of the rock, and then, returning 
to their boat, made signs to the party to follow to the 
wreck. 

The latter had, however, by this time, determined to drop 
the acquaintance, if possible ; and, with this view, as soon 
as the savages were gone, took to their boats and steered 
for the open sea. They were interrupted in their purpose 
by the appearance of about thirty other canoes, filled with 
natives, from whom, however, they succeeded in extricating 
themselves, after a Httle skirmish with those in one canoe, 
the rest seeming to be more intent on an examination of the 
wreck. Rowing all that day and night, they reached an- 
other island on the following afternoon. 

Here they were discovered and visited by two savages, 
from a neighboring point of land, whom, exhausted and dis- 
pirited, they consented to follow to a harbor within sight. 
Approaching this, they were met by a large number of 
canoes, and taken on shore in triumph, and not without 
some violence, of a kind and degree, however, which seemed 
not so much intended to injure, as to intimidate. 

In the island in which they were now prisoners, one of 
the Pelew group, they were treated, on the whole, with no 
great severity. They were first conducted into the presence 
of the dignitaries of the island. These they found seated 
on a platform, on a rising ground, at a little distance from 
the harbor. This platform was twelve or fifteen feet square, 
and was situated between two long buildings, called pyes, 
" These, as we afterwards learned, were used by the chiefs 
as places of carousal, and as a sort of harem for their wo- 
men. They were constructed in a rude manner, of bam- 
boo sticks, and covered with leaves. They were sixty or 
seventy feet in length, and about twenty-four in width. 

" That something hke a correct conception of this scene 
may be formed by the reader, it may be well to give, in this 
place, a brief account of the appearance, manners, and 
customs, of the natives of this island. This was the island 
known to navigators as Baubelthouap, the largest of the 
group of the Pelew islands. It lies not far from the eighth 
12 



134 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



degree of north latitude, is about one hundred and twenty 
miles in length, and contains probably not far from two 
thousand inhabitants. 

'' The men were entirely naked. They always go armed, 
in the way before described, and carry with them a small 
basket, containing generally the whole amount of their 
movable property. The women wear no other clothing 
than a sort of apron, fastened to the waist by a curiously 
wrought girdle, extending nearly to the knees, and left open 
at the sides. The material of these garments — if such they 
can be called — is the bark of a tree, called by them 'kara- 
maV This tree grows from thirty to forty feet high, and is 
two or three feet in circumference. The hair of both males 
and females is worn long ; it is coarse and stiff, and of a 
color resembling that of the natives of North America. 
They make free use of the oil extracted from the cocoa- 
nut ; with this they anoint their bodies, considering it the 
extreme of gentihty to have the skin entirely saturated w^ith 
it. Their arms, and sometimes the lower parts of the body 
and legs, are ingeniously tattooed. Their complexion is 
a light copper. Their eyes have a very singular appear- 
ance, being of a reddish color. Their noses were some- 
what flat, but not so flat as those of the Africans ; nor are 
their lips so thick. They are excessively fond of trinkets. 
It would cause a fashionable lady of America to smile, to 
observe the pains taken by those simple daughters of nature 
to set off their persons. In their ears they wear a sort of 
ornament made of a peculiar kind of grass, which they work 
into a tassel ; this is painted and richly perfumed. In their 
noses they wear a stem of the kabooa leaf, which answers 
the double purpose of an ornament and a smelling-bottle ; 
and their arms, in addition to being tattooed in the manner 
above mentioned, are adorned with a profusion of shells. 
Our fair readers may judge how much we were amused, on 
finding that the copper-colored females of the island cut up 
our old shoes into substitutes for jewelry, and seemed highly 
delighted with wearing the shreds suspended from their 
ears." 

A block for beheading stood before the platform, and the 
question discussed seemed to be, whether it should do its 
oflice for the strangers. The wailing of the women, which 




AN ANGLO-PELEW CHIEF. 135 

before long became obstreperous, was perhaps decisive of 
the issue. After an hour's suspense, 
a large bowl, richly ornamented with 
shells, was brought to them, out of 
which they drank sweetened water 
from a wrought cup of cocoa-nut shell. 
They were then conducted to another 
village, the residence of a prophetess, 
who, they afterwards learned, had in- 
terfered in their behalf, and from whose Onmmented Cup. 
house, on arriving, they received a sufficiency of palatable 
food. 

Here an interesting incident occurred. " Just at the 
time when the servant of the prophetess brought out the 
materials for our repast, we observed, at a little distance, a 
singular-looking being approaching us. His appearance 
was that of a man of sixty. His hair was long and gray, 
unlike that of the natives. His legs, arms, and breast, were 
tattooed. His step was quick and firm ; his motions indi- 
cating that he felt himself a person of not a httle impor- 
tance. His teeth were entirely gone, and his mouth was 
black with the use of ' kabooa.' Judge of our emotions on 
hearing this strange being address us in broken English ! 
His first exclamation was, ' My God, you are Englishmen ! ' 
He immediately said, ' You are safe now ;' but he gave us to 
understand, that it was next to a miracle that we had escaped 
being killed on the water. 

" This person was by birth an Englishman, and had been 
on the island about twenty-nine years. He told us that he 
had been a hatter by trade, and that his name was Charles 
Washington. He had been a private in the British naval 
service, on board the Lion man-of-war. Cruising in those 
seas, he had, while on duty, been guilty of some trifling 
offence; and, apprehending that he should be severely pun- 
ished for it, had left the ship, and taken up his residence 
upon the island. He seemed to be contented with his situ- 
ation, and had no desire to return to his native country. 
He had attained to great celebrity, and was the sixth chief 
among them. His authority seemed great, and he exer- 
cised it with exemplary discretion. 

" Observing the provisions before us, he told us that they 



136 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



were for our use, and desired us to partake of whatever we 
preferred. Seeing that we were likely to be somewhat an- 
noyed by the crowd of young persons who had collected 
around us, he swung his battle-axe over their heads, and 
giving them to understand that we belonged to him, imme- 
diately caused them to disperse." 

From this time, things went on by no means amiss. A 
" pye," with mats and other accommodations, was appro- 
priated to the use of the party, and they were regularly 
supplied with plenty of provisions, such as hogs, goats, fish, 
yams, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, preserved almonds, and sweet 
potatoes. At length, having acquired some tolerable knowl- 
edge of the language, they naturally used it to open a treaty 
of emancipation, and, in the sequel, succeeded in persuading 
the natives that it would be for mutual advantage to release 
them, in consideration of a ransom which was promised. 
The stipulation was, that, should they reach their homes, 
they would send out two hundred muskets, ten casks of 
powder, a corresponding quantity of balls and flints, and an 
accompaniment of beads, belts, combs, and trinkets. These 
preliminaries arranged, no difficulty remained, except in 
making provisions for the voyage. The natives — having 
consulted their prophetess, implored the aid of their divinity, 
and held a solemn feast on the occasion — entered cordially 
into the plan ; and with their help the ship's boat was re- 
paired, and a large canoe hollowed out, which proved to be 
the better sailer. The men collected the timber, and wrought 
it with a few old inch chisels, having neither auger nor gim- 
let, while the women made mats for sails. Meanwhile a 

quantity of fish had been obtained 
for the voyage, and the women 
brought abundance of bread-fruit, 
cocoa-nuts, and yams. 

On the island was an old com- 
pass, belonging to the Antelope, 
which was wrecked here in 1783, 
and given to one of the chiefs, by 
Captain Henry Wilson ; he was 
finally induced to part with it. 
It had become much impaired 
by time and improper usage, but 



1 




L 




^^H 




■ 


H 



The Antelope's Compass. 



THE RETURN OF THE BOATS. 



137 



served as a tolerable guide. So furnished, they put to sea 
on the 27th of October, 1832.. The boats proved leaky, 
and they returned the same night. Another month having 
been employed in refitting, they tempted the treacherous 
deep once more. Taking with them three of the natives, 
two of them chiefs, who, in their confiding simplicity, were 
leaving their homes to go, they knew not whither, and bring 
back the stipulated reward. The remaining three of the 
crew staid behind on the island as hostages. 

" Seven of our number now took the canoe, viz., Bouket, 
Sedon, Andrews, Hulet, and the three natives. Captain 
Barnard, Rollins, Nute, and myself, preferred the ship's boat. 
We were accompanied on our passage the first day by a 
large number of the natives. At night, as we had then 
succeeded in getting beyond the reef, they left us, and we 
continued our course. 

" We had not proceeded far before we had reasons for 
regretting that we had entered upon the perilous under- 
taking of navigating the waters of that region in boats so 
poorly adapted to the purposes we had in view. There 
came on a violent storm of rain, the wind blowing hard, 




The Boat and Canoe overtaken by a violent Storm. 

and the waves threatening to swallow us, each moment of 
the night. To our dismay, the rudder of the canoe, owing 
12 * 



138 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

to the imperfect manner in which it had been constructed, 
was unshipped, and, for a time, the destruction of those on 
board seemed inevitable. Fortunately we continued to keep 
company. By great exertion we made out to replace the 
rudder in the morning, and then proceeded. In the course 
of the day, the rudder was again unshipped ; but, with less 
difficulty than before, we succeeded in fastening it to its 
place with ropes, so that it answered tolerably well as a sub- 
stitute for a better one. Happy would it have been for us, 
if this had been the worst of the disasters of our voyage. 
Our mast next went by the board ; and during the whole of 
the next night, we lay drifting at the mercy of the winds 
and waves. In the mean time the canoe sprung a-leak, and 
we found it impossible to bail out the water as fast as it came 
in. In this extremity we lost no time in shifting all our 
lading into one end of the canoe ; and by tearing up our 
old clothes, and stuffing them into the crack, we at length 
stopped the leak. In this sad plight we continued on, meet- 
ing with no very serious accident, till the fifth day from the 
time of leaving the island ; when, just at the setting of the 
sun, owing to some mismanagement, a light puff of wind 
capsized the canoe ! Fortunately no one was drowned. 
All but three swam to our boat; those who remained con- 
tinued through the night to cling to the canoe. With great 
difficulty we kept our boat from being stove in pieces by 
coming in contact with the canoe. During all this time it 
rained very hard, and never had we experienced a more dis- 
mal night. In the morning we tried to get the canoe right 
side up ; but finding that impossible, we concluded to aban- 
don it entirely. We took from it a few cocoa-nuts, and, as 
our last resort, all took refuge in the boat. We saved the 
compass, and did not so much regret the loss of the canoe, 
as it had cost us already an incalculable amount of anxiety, 
toil, and suffering. 

^' But new difficulties now stared us in the face. Most 
of our provisions had been lost, by the upsetting of the 
canoe, and we had but a very small quantity of water. It 
was therefore deemed expedient to divide among us the 
means of subsistence remaining. We had four cocoa-nuts 
for each person, and a few pieces over, which were distrib- 
uted equally. At this time no objects were seen, except a 



THEY ARE ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES. 139 

few sea birds. We continued in this condition for nine days 
and nights, with actual starvation before us, as the most prob- 
able end of our anxieties and sufferings. We were about 
settling down into a state of confirmed despair, when, to our 
inexpressible joy, we discovered land, apparently about ten 
miles off. We exerted all our remaining strength to reach 
it. When within six miles, we saw, approaching us, a fleet 
of eighteen canoes, filled with the natives of the small island 
we were approaching. 

" At first the small canoes came near us, for the purpose 
of ascertaining who and what we were. The appearance 
of these natives was such as to excite at once our astonish- 
ment and disgust. Like the inhabitants of the island we 
had left, they were entirely naked ; and, as our subsequent 
experience proved, they were infinitely more barbarous and 
cruel. Very soon the large canoes came up, when the 
wretches commenced their outrages. They attacked us 
with brutal ferocity, knocking us overboard with their clubs, 
in the mean time making the most frightful grimaces, and 
yelling like so many incarnate devils. They fell upon our 
boat, and immediately destroyed it, breaking it into splinters, 
and taking the fragments into their canoes. While this was 
going on, we were swimming from one canoe to another, 
entreating them, by signs, to spare our lives and permit us 
to get into their canoes. This they for a long time refused, 
beating us most unmercifully, whenever we caught hold of 
any thing to save ourselves from sinking. 

" After they had demolished our boat, and kept us in that 
condition for some time, they allowed us to get on board. 
They then compelled us to row towards the land. They 
stripped us of all our clothing immediately after we were 
taken in ; and the reader may form some idea of our distress 
in this condition, under a burning sun, from the fact, that 
before night our shoulders were blistered, by being thus ex- 
posed to the heat. 

^' On approaching land we discovered no habitation ; but 
after going round a point of the island, we saw, near the 
beach, a row of small and badly-constructed huts. We 
were compelled to jump from the canoes into the water and 
wade to the shore. By this time the beach was lined with 
women and children, who caused the air to resound with the 



t 



140 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

most horrid yells and screams. Their gestures and violent 
contortions of countenance resembled the frantic ravings of 
bedlamites. 

" The reception we met with on land was no more agree- 
able than that upon the water. Judging from the treatment 
we had received from the females of the island which we 
had left, it was hoped that the gentler sex would extend to 
us some proof of their commiseration ; but in this we were 
sadly disappointed. If possible, they were more cruel than 
their inhuman lords and masters. We were soon separated 
from each other, and dragged about from place to place ; 
our brutal captors, in the mean time, contending with each 
other to see who should have us as his property. Frequent 
contests of this kind occurred ; in one of which, during the 
first day, I was knocked down. The question of ownership 
was at length settled, and we were retained by those into 
whose hands we had at first fallen. Some of us were taken 
to their house of worship, called by them Verre-Yarris, lite- 
rally, God's house, where they went through with some of 
their religious ceremonies, and we received a few mouthfuls 
of food, which was the first we had tasted through the 
day." 

The small piece of land, on which they found themselves, 
is situated between the third and fourth degrees of north 
latitude, and in longitude one hundred and thirty-one de- 
grees twenty minutes east. It is known to navigators by 
the name of Lord North's Island : it has hitherto been con- 
sidered uninhabited. This is riot surprising ; as the natives 
said that no white man had ever visited the place ; though 
it seemed, from the pieces of iron in their possession, and 
from other circumstances, that they had had some communi- 
cation with the Spaniards and Portuguese in that quarter of 
the world. Like many other islands in those seas, this is 
surrounded by a coral reef, which is from an eighth to one 
half of a mile wide ; but outside of the reef the water is 
apparently fathomless, the water being as blue as it is in the 
middle of the ocean ; and the largest vessels may approach, 
in many places, within a quarter of a mile of the beach. 
The whole island rises so little above the level of the sea, 
that the swell often rolls up to a considerable distance inland. 
It is about three quarters of a mile in length, and not far 



[SLAND. 141 

from half a mile in width. This island, unlike the Pelews, 
is one of the most horrible and wretched on the face of the 
globe. The only product of its soil, worth mentioning, is 
the cocoa tree ; and those are of so dwarfish and miserable a 
growth, as to bear but few nuts. These few, however, con- 
stitute the food of the inhabitants, with the exception of a 
species of fish caught occasionally near the shore. 

" The complexion of these islanders is a light copper 
color ; much lighter than the Malays, or the Pelew Island- 
ers ; which last, however, they resemble in the breadth of 
their faces, high cheek bones, and broad, flattened noses. 
They do not color their teeth, by chewing any thing, as 
many of those islanders do ; but their teeth are so strong 
that they can husk a cocoa-nut with them instantly. 

" The character of the inhabitants much resembles that 
of the island itself. Cowardly and servile, yet most bar- 
barous and cruel, they combine, in their habits, tempers, 
and dispositions, the most disgusting and loathsome features 
that disgrace humanity. And, what may be regarded as re- 
markable, the female portion of the inhabitants outstrip the 
men in cruelty and savage depravity ; so much so, that we 
were frequently indebted to the tender mercies of the men 
for escapes from death at the hands of the women. The 
indolence of the natives, which not even the fear of star- 
vation itself can rouse to exertion, prevents their undertaking 
the least toil, although a little labor, well applied, might be 
made to render them infinitely more comfortable." 

" We were captured and taken to the island, December 
6, 1832; and on the third day of February, 1833, two 
months, wanting three days, Captain Barnard and Bartlet 
Rollins effected their escape. Compared with the re- 
mainder of our captivity, our privations and sufferings, up 
to that time, were less severe. But at no time did we have 
sufficient food to satisfy the cravings of hunger. The very 
crumbs that fall from an ordinary table would have been to 
us a luxury ; the swine of America are better fed than we 
were, on the most fortunate day of our residence upon that 
island. 

" It was on the day above mentioned that a ship was dis- 
covered a short distance from the island, and the natives 
immediately collected, and prepared to go to it, in order to 



142 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

obtain iron, or some other articles of value. Hope once 
more visited us. To escape was, of course, our strong de- 
sire and intention. Accordingly, when the canoes put off, 
we attempted to go. Our savage masters interposed their 
authority, and by menaces and blows prevented us. Many 
of us were severely beaten, and all but two were detained 
by the brutal force of the savages, ilt length Captain Bar- 
nard and Rollins, after being severely beaten, were allowed 
to accompany the natives to the ship, and succeeded in 
effecting their escape. Trusting to the humanity of the 
captain and crew, we, for some time, confidently expected 
that they would contrive some way of enabling us to join 
them. They were in sight about three hours ; at one time 
they were so near that we could distinctly see the hands on 
board ; but judge of our feelings when we saw the vessel 
pursuing her course ! Our expectations were all blasted in 
a moment, and our minds, which had been gladdened by 
the hope of once more enjoying the society of civihzed 
beings, of once more reaching the shores of our beloved 
country, sunk back into a state of despair: we wept like 
children." 

" After the departure of the captain and Rollins, we were 
treated with much greater severity than we had been before. 
Generally we were aroused from our broken slumbers about 
sunrise, and compelled to go to work : we were usually em- 
ployed in cultivating a species of vegetable, somewhat re- 
sembling the yam, and called by them 'Icoi-ei.^ This root 
is raised in beds of mud, which are prepared by digging out 
the sand, and filling the place with mould. The whole of 
this labor was performed with the hands. We were com- 
pelled, day after day, to stand in the mud from morning till 
night, and to turn up the mud with our hands. Frequently 
we were required to do this without receiving a morsel of 
food till about noon, and sometimes we were left without 
any thing to eat till night. At best, we could get no more 
than a small piece of cocoa-nut, hardly a common-sized 
mouthful, at a time, and if, either from exhaustion or any 
other cause, we neglected to perform the required amount of 
labor, our pittance of food was withheld altogether. 

'' From this plain and unexaggerated account, it will be 
seen that our condition, at best, was bad enough ; but a mis- 



PAINFDL OCCUPATION. 143 

fortune befell us which rendered it still worse. About four 
months from the time of our landing on that dreary spot, 
there was a violent storm, w^hich came very near sweeping 
away the whole of the means of support which remained 
for the miserable inhabitants. The wind blew down many 
of the best cocoa trees, and materially injured the fruit on 
such as were left standing. Besides this, the low places in 
which they raised the root, by them called ' 'kore'i^ were 
mostly filled with sand, and famine stared us all in the 
face. 

^' They attributed this misfortune to the anger of their, 
god, and did not fail to use such means as they thought best 
calculated to appease him ; and the calamity greatly added 
to our sufferings. , Besides subjecting us to still more severe 
deprivations, we were compelled — though hardly able to 
drag our limbs from place to place — to labor in repairing 
the damage done by the storm. We were employed for 
months in carrying in our arms and on our shoulders pieces 
of the coral rock, in order to form a sort of sea-wall to pre- 
vent the waves from washing away the trees ; and this 
drudgery, considering that we were naked, under a burning 
sun, and reduced to nothing but skin and bones, was too 
severe to admit of any thing like an adequate description. 
Our flesh, or, to speak more properly, our skin, — for flesh 
we had none, — was frequently so torn by the sharp corners 
of the rock, and scorched by the sun, as to resemble more 
that of the rhinoceros than of human beings. 

"A new trial now awaited us. The barbarous beings, 
among whom our lot had been cast, deemed it important 
that we should be tattooed, and we w^ere compelled to submit 
to the distressing operation. We expostulated against it — 
we entreated — we begged to be spared this additional 
affliction ; but our entreaties were of no use. Those sav- 
ages were not to be moved, and we were compelled to sub- 
mit ; and that the reader may form some idea of the painful 
process, I will here give a brief account of it. 

" We were, in the first place, securely bound down to the 
ground, and there held fast by our tormentors. They then 
proceeded to draw, with a sharp stick, the figures designed 
to be imprinted on the skin. This done, the skin w-as thickly 
punctured with a litde instrument made of sharpened fish 



I 



144 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



bones, and somewhat resembling a carpenter's adz, in min- 
iature, but having teeth, instead of a smooth, sharp edge. 
This instrument was held within an inch or two of the flesh, 
and struck into it rapidly with a piece of wood, applied to 
it in such a manner as to cause it to rebound at every stroke. 
In this way our breasts and arms were prepared ; and subse- 
quently the ink, which was made of a vegetable, found on 
the island, and called by them the ' savvan,^ was applied. 
The operation caused such an inflammation of our bodies, 
that only a portion could be done at one time ; and as soon 
as the inflammation abated, another portion was done, as fast 




Mr. Holden andergoing the Process of Tattooing. 

as we could bear it, till our bodies were covered. It was 
effectuafly done ; for to this day the figures remain as dis- 
tinct as they were when first imprinted, and the marks will 
be carried by us to the grave. They were exceedingly 
anxious to perform the operation upon our faces ; but this 
we would not submit to, telling them that sooner than have 
it done we would die in resisting them. Among themselves, 
the oldest people had the greatest quantity 6f tattooing, and 
the younger class less. 

*' Besides the operation of tattooing, they compelled us to 
pluck the hair from different parts of the body, and to pluck 



SENT ADRIFT IN A CANOE. 145 

our beards about every ten days, which was extremely pain- 
ful ; and at every successive operation the beard grew out 
harder and stiffer." 

" About a year after we first arrived at the island, William 
Sedon became so reduced as to deprive us of all hopes of 
his recovery. He looked like a skeleton ; and, at last, was 
so entirely exhausted by hunger, as to be unable to walk, or 
even to rise from the ground. He continued, however, to 
crawl from place to place, until all his remaining strength 
was nearly gone, when the inhuman monsters placed him in 
an old canoe, and sent him adrift on the ocean ! Gladly 
would his unhappy shipmates have extended to him the last 
sad offices of friendship ; that poor consolation was denied 
both him and us ! My heart bleeds at the recollection of 
our separation and his melancholy fate — when we saw him 
anxiously turn his languid eyes towards those who were 
doomed still to linger on the borders of the grave ! Our 
sighs were breathed almost in silence, and our tears were 
shed in vain 1 

" It may be observed here, that it is not their custom to 
deposit the bodies of any of their dead in the earth, except 
very young children. The bodies of grown people, after 
death, are laid in a canoe and committed to the ocean. 

" It was soon our lot to part with another of our com- 
panions, Peter Andrews. He was accused by the natives 
of some trifling offence, and put to death. The savages 
knocked him down with their clubs, and then despatched 
him in the most cruel and most shocking manner. I was at 
this time at a distance from the place where he was killed. 
My master was absent ; and upon my hearing a noise, in 
the direction of the place where the foul business was trans- 
acted, and suspecting that all was not right, I started to see 
what was going on. I was near the beach when I saw a 
number of the savages coming towards the spot where I 
stood, dragging along the lifeless and mangled body of our 
comrade ! One of them approached me behind, and knocked 
me down with his club. The body of Andrews was thrown 
into the sea, and it seemed to be their determination to de- 
stroy the whole of us. I warded off" the blows, aimed at me, 
as well as I could, and, recovering myself, ran towards the 
hut of my master. He had not yet returned ; but, fortu- 
13 



146 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

nately, an old man, who had previously shown some regard 
for me, and who was the particular friend of my master, 
happened, at that moment, to be passing ; and seizing the 
man who had pursued me, held him fast. I escaped and 
ran into the hut, and crawled up through an aperture in the 
floor into the chamber under the roof. I seized an old box, 
and covered up the hole tlirough which I had ascended ; but 
this was not sufficient to detain, for any great length of 
time, the wretches who were thirsting for my blood. They 
soon succeeded in displacing the box, and one of them 
seized me ; but just as he was pulling me from my place of 
refuge, my master returned, with several of his friends, and 
rescued me from the clutches of my enemies. 

^' In the mean time Nute and the rest of our companions 
were at the ' Tahboo/ a place of pubhc resort, where, for 
the only time, the females rendered our people any assist- 
ance. They concealed the men under some mats, and kept 
them there till the fury of the natives had, in a measure, 
subsided. 

" We were next called upon to part with one of the 
Pelew chiefs, who had come with us. He died of absolute 
starvation, and, according to custom, was committed to the 
waves in an old canoe. In a short time after this, the Pelew 
private — who had also come with us — was detected in the 
crime of taking a few cocoa-nuts without leave ; for which 
offence he had his hands tied behind him, and was put into 
a canoe and sent adrift ; which was their usual method of 
punishment for offences of different kinds. 

^' About a year and seven months from the commence- 
ment of our captivity, Milton Hewlet died, and, like the 
others, was, according to the custom of the natives, com- 
mitted to the ocean. A short time afterwards, Charles C. 
Bouket, having become so reduced, by his sufferings, as to 
be unable to help himself, was (horrible to relate!) placed 
in a canoe, while still ahve, and committed to the mercy of 
the ocean. Thus did one after another of our companions 
sink under the weight of their sufferings, and perish without 
any alleviation of their wretchedness. Nute and myself, 
with our friend Kobac, the other Pelew chief, were all that 
remained ; and we were constantly expecting that the next 
hour would end our existence." 



A SHIP OFF THE ISLAND. 149 

" I have already said, that only two of the crew of the 
Mentor, namely, Nute and myself, remained alive, with the 
exception of Captain Barnard and Rollins, who had for- 
tunately escaped. The Pelew chief had become strongly 
attached to us, and we take pleasure in stating the fact, 
that his faithfulness and affection had greatly endeared him 
to us. He seemed more like a brother than a barbarian ; 
and most gladly would we have saved him from those suffer- 
ings which, no doubt, before this time, have terminated his 
life. Alas ! it was not in our power to administer to his 
relief; and when we last saw him he was but just alive. 

" Having thus briefly related the story of our captivity 
and sufferings, it only remains to give an account of our 
escape from this barbarous people. We continued to sur- 
vive the horrible sufferings to which we were constantly 
subjected, and to serve our tyrannical masters, in despite of 
our agonies of body and mind, till the beginning of the 
autumn of 1834 ; at which time we had become so emaci- 
ated, feeble, and sickly, that we found it impossible any 
longer even to attempt to labor. 

"With much difficulty we at length persuaded our 
masters to allow us to quit labor, and obtained from them 
a promise to be put on board the first vessel that should 
come to the island. But, at the same time, they informed 
us, that if we ceased to work, they should cease to furnish 
the miserable allowance of cocoa-nut on which we had be- 
fore subsisted, and that we must either labor or starve. We 
deemed death as welcome in one shape as in another, and 
relinquished our labors and our pittance of food together. 

" We were thus literally turned out to die ! We crawled 
from place to place, subsisting upon leaves, and now and 
then begging of the natives a morsel of cocoa-nut. In this 
way we contrived to live for about two months, when the 
joyful intelligence was brought to us that a vessel was in 
sight, and was coming near the island ! Hope once more 
revisited our despairing hearts, and seemed to inspire us 
with renewed strength and animation. 

" After taxing our exhausted powers to the utmost, we 

persuaded the natives to prepare for visiting the vessel ; and 

throwing our emaciated bodies into their canoes, we made 

for the ship with all possible despatch. The vessel proved 

13* 



150 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



to be the British barque Britannia, Captain Short, bound to 
Canton. Our reception on board is faithfully described in 
the following certificate given by Captain Short, the original 
of which is still in my possession. 

" ' Lintiii, 29th December, 1834. 
" ^ This is to certify, that on the 27th day of November, 
1834, off the small island, commonly called Lord North's, 
by the English, situated in latitude three degrees three min- 
utes north, and longitude one hundred and thirty-one degrees 
twenty minutes east, on board the British barque Britannia, 
bound to Canton river, we observed about ten or eleven ca- 
noes, containing upwards of one hundred men, approaching 
the vessel, in a calm, or nearly so, with the intention of coming 
alongside. But, having the small compliment of thirteen 
men, it was considered most prudent to keep them off, 
which was effected by firing a few six-pound shots in a con- 
trary direction from the boats, some of which were then 
within pistol shot. At the same time, hearing cries in our 
own language, begging to be taken on board, the boat was 
despatched away to know the cause. The boat returned to 
the ship, and reported an American on board one of them. 
She was then sent back, having strict orders to act with 
caution, and the man got from the canoe into the sea, and 
was taken up by the ship's boat, and brought on board. He 
then stated in what manner he came there, and said he had 
another of his countrymen in another canoe. I said, if we 
could get some of the boats dispersed, that every assistance 
should be rendered for the liberty of the other man. Ac- 
cordingly they did so, all but three. The ship's boat was 
then despatched in search, and soon found the other man. 
He was brought on board, but in a most deplorable condi- 
tion, with fever, from the effects of a miserable subsistence. 
These two poor fellows were quite naked, under a burning 
sun. They appeared to bear all the marks of their long 
servitude, and I should suppose two or three days would 
have been the end of the last man taken on board, but from 
this act of Providence. It appears that these men were 
wrecked in the ship Mentor, on the Pelew Islands, and were 
proceeding with their commander to some Dutch settlement, 
in one of the Pelew Island canoes, when they got to the 



ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES. 151 

afore-mentioned island, and were detained by the natives; 
and that Captain Edward C. Barnard had got on board 
some ship, and reached Canton river shortly after their de- 
tention at the island ; which has been confirmed by the dif- 
ferent masters now at the port of Lintin. 

'Henry Short, Barque Britannia.'* 

" Never shall we find words to express our joy at once 
more finding ourselves in the company of civiHzed men ! 
Nor can we be too grateful to Captain Short, and his offi- 
cers and crew, for their kind attentions during our passage 
to Lintin. Every thing in their power was done to restore 
our health and strength, and to render us comfortable. On 
arriving at Lintin we found ourselves sufficiently recovered 
to be able to pass up the river to Canton. We remained 
there, at the factories, under medical treatment, until the 
ship Morrison, of New York, was ready to sail ; when we 
took passage in her for our native countiy, and arrived in 
New York on the 5th day of May, 1835." 

" The whole ship's company of the Mentor consisted of 
twenty-two ; viz., Edward C. Barnard, captain ; Thomas 
M. Colesworthy, first mate ; Peter O'Connor, second mate ; 
Benjamin F. Haskell, David Jenkins, and Jacob Fisher, 
boat-steerers ; Peter Andrews, steward; John Mayo, cook; 
and Horatio Davis, Bartlet Rollins, William Jones, Thomas 
Taylor, Lewis Bergoin, Charles C. Bouket, Calvin Alden, 
Milton Hulet, William Sedon, James Meder, James Black- 
more, John Baily, Benjamin H. Nute, and Horace Holden, 
seamen." 

The community of men, if they are to be called so, on 
Lord North's Island, into which the unfortunate mariners 
were thrown, was insulated from the world, on a spot, as 
was mentioned above, three quarters of a mile long, and 
about half a mile wide. The number of inhabitants, dis- 
tributed into three small villages, Holden thinks, might 
amount to between three and four hundred. Here, apart 
from the rest of the race, they had lived, generation after 
generation, — no man may guess how long. They had no 
traditions touching the first settling of their island. For 
aught they had heard, their ancestors may have occupied 
the spot for thousands of years ; the increase of population 



152 THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 

being kept down by the recurrence, at intervals, of a like 
pressure of famine to that which reduced it, not much less 
than a quarter, as was thought, during the time our seamen 
were there. As far as could be learned, they knew nothing 
of any other human beings, except from some rare commu- 
nications with European ships under sail ; in bartering 
cocoa-nuts for iron ; and from three visits of strangers ; the 
memory of which was preserved by tradition, as having 
taken place at distant times. One of these was of a man 
copper-colored like themselves, and named by them Peeter 
Kart, who, they declared, came anciently to their island from 
Ternate, as he said ; taught them their religion and arts, and 
closed his life among them. Another of these stories re- 
lated to an individual who, they reported, arrived alone from 
a different island at tlie north-west, brinn^ina^ a basket of the 
tarrow root, which he taught them to cultivate. He, too, 
finished his days on the island. The third tradition com- 
memorated three tnen and three women, who came in a 
canoe, from yet another direction, and after a time departed, 
taking three of the islanders in their company. 

The island is a coral rock, with only a sprinkling of sandy 
soil ; in this grow some trees of the bread-fruit and cocoa- 
nut. The only thing cultivated was what the natives called 
correi, an inferior species of the tarrow root, which makes 
so common a food in the whole region of Polynesia. It was 
cooked in a smothered fire, made in a kind of oven, in a 
shallow cavity, scooped out for the purpose. Fuel was laid 
at the bottom and kindled ; and upon this was spread a 
layer of stones. When these had been heated, and fell 
upon the embers, the pieces of root were placed upon them, 
with a little water in cocoa-nut shells ; over these were spread 
mats of the leaves of the same tree, and over all a layer of 
sand. Fish was simply broiled on the hot stones, and turtle 
was cooked in both ways. There were no animals on the 
island, except rats and lizards, neither of which were 
eaten in any extremity. There was abundance of mosqui- 
toes, flies, and more odious vermin, the last of which made 
a favorite article of food. Sea birds were sometimes seen, 
but nothing winged, larger than a fly, was known to breed 
on the island. The chief drink was the milk of the cocoa- 
nut. Some brackish springs percolated the rock. Rain 
water they took no care to save. 



THE MANNER OF BUILDING HUTS AND CANOES. 153 

Huts are constructed in two ways. The better sort are 
built on a frame, begun by two pieces of timber, each con- 
sisting of a stock and two branches, somewhat in the form 
of a Y. These are placed upright in the ground, opposite 
to each other. Then from the arms of one to the corre- 
sponding arms of the other, timbers are extended, fastened 
at both ends by cords, twisted from the cocoa-nut husk. 
From these horizontal timbers descend others to the 
ground to make the side. From the same, on the other 
hand, ascend timbers, meeting in an angle at the top for 
the roof, which roof is generally continued at the same 
angle, so as to reach within two or three feet of the ground, 
admitting the free passage of the air beneath it. It is cov- 
ered with a rude thatching of leaves. The smaller huts are 
constructed of two rows of stakes, driven slanting towards 
each other, in the ground, and secured at the top to a ridge- 
pole. The ends are closed in the same manner, an opening 
being left at one, sufficiently large to creep in and out. 
These dwellings are thatched in the same manner as the 
better sort. 

Canoes are hollowed from the bread-fruit tree, and an- 
other tree, resembling it in appearance, which is not a native 
of the island, but often drifts on shore. Sails, of a triangu- 
lar shape, are made of mats of the leaf of a tree called the 
sook. The mast is secured by cordage, twisted from fibres 
of the cocoa-nut husk, one rope extending from the mast- 
head to the stern, another to the bow, a third to one side. 
The halliards of the sail are of the same material. No 
weapons are in use, except clubs, in a state of nature, with- 
out finish or ornament, and spears with points rudely set 
with shark's teeth. The dress of the men is merely a kind 
of sash, about a fathom long, which they call vetivet, fasten- 
ed round the loins. It is made of the fibres of the bark of 
a tree called curramung. The women wear an apron of 
platted leaves. Neither sex wears any thing on the head. 
Holden, with a sailor's versatile invention, made himself 
some hats with the long palm-like leaves of the sook tree, 
sewed together with threads of the curramung, by means of 
a needle of fish bone ; but, as often as he finished them, the 
natives would take them away and tear them to pieces, as 
soon as the novelty was over. 



154 



THE WRECK OF THE SHIP MENTOR. 



There was little like division of labor, though persons 
remarked for particular skill in some handicraft, as the build- 
ing of canoes, would sometimes get the name of sennup, or 
master-workman. When a hut was to be built, the meeting 
of neighbors, to join their forces in putting together the frame, 
under his direction, was not unlike an old-fashioned New 
England raising ; and their civility was acknowledged in like 
manner, by the provision of a repast of cocoa-nuts. 

In such a place, time has not very many uses. Eating, 
sleeping, fishing, lounging, and a mutual examination of the 
head, for the most part, make up the variety on Lord North's 
Island. 

We now conclude, by stating that the United States' 
sloop-of-war Vincennes subsequently visited the Pelew 
Islands, and took on board the seamen, who were left as 
hostages. The Vincennes also found the Pelew chief, Ko- 
bac, alive on Lord North's Island, and conveyed him to his 
home. 



\ 



.v^n 



1^ ^ 
^ K 



DR. MADDEN'S NARRATIVE 



OF THE 



NOBLE CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN COLLINS, 



PACKET SHIP ROSCIUS, OF NEW YORK, 

In rescuing the Officers and Crew of the English 
Ship Scotia; which was water-logged in the 
Atlantic Ocean, December, 1839. 

E insert a narrative like the following 
with the greatest pleasure: such an 
act is alike honorable to Captain Col- 
lins and to his country. The circum- 
stances of this case presented very 
great difficulties, and furnished what 
some men might have deemed very 
plausible excuses for giving over the attempt to rescue 
the persons on board the Scotia; but, we trust in heaven, 
they did not produce a moment's hesitation in the mind 
of Captain Collins. Well and nobly did tlie gallant 
sailor do his duty, and so will he always. It is not in 
his character to do otherwise. May he never need such 
succor ; but if it should be his lot, may he find as glorious 
a fellow as himself to render it ! We could not wish him a 
better. 

^' Fifth of December, P. M. Fell in with the wreck of the 
Scotia, bound from Quebec to Glasgow, burthen six hun- 
dred tons, loaded with timber, water-logged, in latitude 46°, 
longitude 32° 30^ On seeing signals of distress flying, we 
altered our course, and bore down on her ; and on the 
Roscius approaching her, Captain Collins hailed her: the 
answer was, ' We are water-logged •— seventeen feet water 




156 THE NOBLE CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN COLLINS. 

in her hold ! ' The prompt reply of Captain Collins was, 
*If you want to come on board, put out your boats.' A 
cheer from the people of the sinking vessel followed ; such 
a cry as men in desperate circumstances alone could utter ; 
and that thrilling cry went up as the simultaneous shout of 
men in the extremest peril suddenly restored to life and 
hope ; and instantly every hat and cap was seen waving on 
the crowded poop. 

" An effort was now made to approach us, but the water- 
logged vessel was utterly unmanageable ; she pitched heavily, 
as if she would have gone down headlong ; the seas swept 
over her, and, as she rose, broke through her broken ports. 
Her mizzen-topmast, and fore and main-topgallantmasts had 
been cut away to ease her, and the poop-deck, where the 
crew were congregated, seemed the only place of safety left 
them. 

^' In attempting to near us, she came staggering down on 
us, and we were compelled to make sail to get out of her 
way. The sea was very heavy — we again lay to, and were 
then about a mile from the Scotia. Night came on, and no 
boats were seen — the unfortunate Scotia was then lost sight 
of altogether. About six o'clock, Captain Collins hoisted 
a lantern, and the light was immediately answered by the 
Scotia. It was the opinion of Captain Collins that one of 
their boats had put off, and had been swamped in attempt- 
ing to reach us, and that the survivors had determined to 
wait till morning before another attempt was made. It 
seemed, indeed, doubtful, in the extreme, if any small boat 
could live in such a sea. It is impossible sufficiently to 
commend the conduct of Captain Collins; — his anxiety to 
reach Liverpool before the steamer, which was to have 
sailed six days after us, made every moment of importance. 
We had, moreover, seventy steerage passengers, and twenty- 
one in the cabin ; and to forego taking advantage of a fair 
wind, and to lay to for a night in a heavy sea, with every 
appearance of an approaching gale, was a determination 
which, I greatly fear, many a master of a ship would have 
found great difficulty in coming to. Captain Collins, how- 
ever, made this resolution promptly, and without any ex- 
pression of impatience at the detention it occasioned. His 
only observation was, ' We must stay by the poor devils, at 



THE BOATS REACH THE SHIP IN SAFETY. 157 

all events, till morning — we can't leave them to perish 
there, d — n it.' May we not hope, when ' the accusing 
spirit flew up to heaven's chancery with the oath, and 
blushed as he gave it in, the recording angel, as he wrote 
it down, dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it 
out forever ' ? 

''At seven, P. M., cheering was heard in the direction of 
the Scotia : the people, we supposed, had .taken the boats, 
and had then left the sinking vessel. In the course of an 
hour, or rather less, the long-boat of the Scotia, filled with 
men, was on her lee quarter. By the admirable arrange- 
ments, which were then made by Captain Collins for rescu- 
ing them, the men were taken on board without the least 
accident. This boat brought eighteen : the captain and 
five men had still remained on board, and were preparing 
to put off in the jolly-boat. No little anxiety was felt for 
the safety of this Httle boat ; in the course of half an hour, 
however, she was seen, and with two oars only she gained 
the Roscius ; and the captain and his five men were soon 
taken on board. To the credit of the poor master of the 
Scotia, be it observed, that he, Captain Jeans, was the last 
man to leave the sinking ship. The anxiety expressed by 
the men, who came in the first boat, for the safety of their 
captain, and, indeed, the terms in which the whole of his 
people, then and subsequently, spoke of Captain Jeans, 
showed how highly he was respected and esteemed by his 
crew ; and if he had not been so, he would probably not 
have kept his ship afloat as long as he had done. Nor was 
the anxiety of Captain Jeans, for the safety of his crew, less 
manifest. The first question he asked, on coming on board 
the Roscius, was, ' Are all my people safe ? ' The captain 
and crew were all Scotch, and their conduct throughout re- 
flected no discredit on their country. 

" When they came on board, they were worn out with con- 
tinual exertion. The men had been night and day at the 
pumps, since the previous Tuesday ; but, exhausted as they 
were, they immediately turned to, and with one accord went 
on deck and did duty with our crew ; and no sooner were 
the boats cast adrift, than there was ample occasion for their 
services. A violent gale from the north-east set in, which 
must have rendered it utterly impossible for the people to 
14 



158 THE NOBLE CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN COLLINS. 

have taken to their boats, and the violence of which, on the 
following day, must have been inevitably fatal, for it would 
have been impossible to have kept the pump going ; and 
the sea already, even before the gale from the north-east set 
in, was making a clear breach over her, and threatening to 
carry away her poop-cabin, the last place of refuge left the 
poor people of the Scotia, except the top, where they had 
already stowed water and provisions, in the momentary ex- 
pectation of being compelled to abandon the deck ; and 
thus, providentially, were twenty-four human beings pre- 
served from a watery grave." 



Letter from the Master. 

"Liverpool, December, 1839. 
*' Sir : — On behalf of myself and crew, I beg leave to 
express to you the heart-felt gratitude we feel for the assist- 
ance you rendered to us when, on the 5th inst., the vessel 
I commanded, the Scotia, bound from Quebec to Greenock, 
being water-logged, and myself and my people worn out 
with continual exertion, — and still, unfortunately, unable to 
keep her free, — you promptly consented to take us on, and 
thereby rescued us from certain death. For all the kindness 
and generous treatment we have subsequently received from 
you, we thank you from our hearts, and in the prayers of 
ourselves and families you never can be forgotten. 

" I am, sir, most gratefully yours, 

''JOHN JEANS. 
" To Captain John Collins, Packet Ship Roscius, N. Y." 



From the Passengers of the Roscius to Captain Collins. 

" On Board of the Ship Rosdus, \ 
off lAvei'pool, December, 1839. ^ 

•'Dear Sir: — We, the undersigned, passengers of the 

ship Roscius, on the voyage from New York to Liverpool, 

deeply impressed with the admirable conduct you displayed 

on the recent occasion of your falling in with the wreck of 



DR. madden's poem. 159 

the British ship Scotia, on the afternoon of the 5th Decem- 
ber, and taking off the master and twenty-four men, found 
on that unfortunate vessel, cannot part with you without ex- 
pressing to you our high sense of that energy of character 
and active benevolence, which actuated your character on 
that occasion, and happily made you, under God, the instru- 
ment of saving these poor men from the jaws of death. 
We feel that there were circumstances to be taken into con- 
sideration, connected with that event, which gave additional 
merit to the transaction — circumstances which required a 
great sacrifice of time and of interest, imposing a heavy ex- 
pense on yourself, and were not unattended with risk to 
your vessel, perhaps the finest that ever sailed from New 
York, before the resolution of staying by the sinking ship, 
till such time as it was practicable to take off the people, 
cannot be fully appreciated, or sufficiently commended.'* 



TO CAPTAIN COLLINS, OF THE "ROSCIUS," 

On the Occasion of his falling in with the Wreck of the British Ship 
" Scotia,''^ on the Evening of the 5th of December, and taking off the 
Twenty-four Men found on Board of that sinking Vessel, 

Heroes can boast "their thousands, and their tens 

Of thousands," slaughtered on the field of strife — 
And this was glory ! O, what countless pens 

And tongues extol the waste of human life ! — 

This mighty carnage is a theme that's rife 
With praise and plaudits, and the chief, whose sword 

Does bolder mischief than the dastard's knife, 
And deals out wider carnage, is adored 
And aggrandized, while minor cut-throats are abhorred. 

Is there for bloodless exploits no renown? 

Is there no tongue for living acts of love ? 
No pens for themes of mercy freely shown 

By man himself to man ? no power to move 

The heart by deeds which angels might approve ? 
Is there no fame for him whose soul is bent 

On high achievements, prompted from above ? 
No breath of honor, with the goodness blent. 
That stirs to save when life itself is almost spent ? 

If guilt there's none like his whose hand, accursed, 
Hath shed man's blood, can goodness then compare 

With that thrice-blessed influence, whose first 
And chiefest wish and effort is to spare ? — 



160 



THE NOBLE CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN COLLINS. 



To snatch one's fellow-creatures from despair, 
On danger's brink, and on the verge of death ? — 

To come with help and succor to them there ; 
And when their souls are sick, to breathe the breath 
Of hope, and fan the sinking flame of life beneath ? 

Fame ! let thy trumpet sound the warrior's praise ! 

Glory be his who courts the world's applause ! 
Honor for him who seeks the public gaze. 

And acts for it till some new claim withdraws 

Its future smiles. Thou, in a bolder cause, 
And for a better meed than human fame. 

Didst rescue numbers from the very jaws 
Of death itself, nor cared from whence they came. 
To save and succor all, was thy sole end and aim. 

O, when thou hast to meet thy God on high. 
On record, then, that thrilling cry of theirs, 

Which rent the air, on hearing thy reply. 

And made the wreck resound with thankful prayers, 
May this deed prove the death of all thy fears, 

The life of all thy hopes ! O, may it plead 
In thy behalf with Him, who ever hears 

The poor man's prayer; and find thou hast, indeed. 

To his poor suffering members been a friend in need. 



Ship Roscius, December 8, 1839. 



R. R. MADDEN. 




THE MELANCHOLY ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET PULASKI, 

OFF CAPE LOOKOUT, 
ON THE COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA, 

OCCASIONED BY THE 

EXPLOSION OF THE STEAM BOILER; 

With the Narratives of the Sufferings and Affecting 
Scenes which those passed through, who surviyed 
the Catastrophe, whilst floating on Fragments of 
the Wreck, and in reaching the Shore in the Boats, 
June, 1838. 




N the melancholy catalogue of misfortunes 
on the ocean, few cases have produced 
scenes so heart-rending and painfully- 
affecting, as were brought about by the 
explosion on board of the Pulaski. By 
this fatal accident perished the young, 
fair, and beautiful, the learned and the 
ignorant, the high and the low, — all sunk together. " No 
tomb shall plead to their remembrance. No human power 
could redeem their forms. The white foam of the waves 
was their winding-sheet. The winds of the ocean will be 
their eternal dirge." 

« The death angel flapped his broad wing o'er the wave." 

One loud report awakened the affrighted company, and 
upon hurrying up from their cabins, they found, in the place 
14* 



162 THE DESTRUCTIOx\ OF THE PULASKI. 

of the firm deck and whitened planks, which they had last 
trod, before retiring to their slumbers, a dark and frightful 
abyss, resembling a black and mighty caldron, in the bot- 
tom of which rested the ponderous and broken steam en- 
gine. But through the cracked sides and broken rim the 
surrounding ocean was fast gushing, and which, in a few 
moments, would fill and descend like lead into its depths ^ — 
hurrying, in its downward course, all within the reach of its 
ingulfing waters. Imagination can hardly paint a scene, 
in its immediate aspect, or its ultimate and swiftly-approach- 
ing issues, more full of horrors, to distract the calmest mind, 
to unnerve the stoutest heart — horrors which must have 
appeared to start up from the wild caverns of the deep 
itself. 

The steam-packet Pulaski, Captain Dubois, sailed from 
Savannah on Wednesday, the 13th of June, 1838, having 
on board about ninety passengers. She arrived at Charles- 
ton the same afternoon, and sailed the next morning with 
sixty-five additional passengers. In the afternoon, the wind 
freshened from the eastward, and produced a heavy sea, 
which retarded her progress, and required a full pressure of 
steam. At half past ten, the wind continued fresh, with a 
clear star-light, and there was every promise of a fine night. 
At eleven o'clock, P. M., the starboard boiler exploded with 
tremendous violence, blowing off* the promenade deck above, 
and shattering the starboard side about midships ; at the 
same time the bulk-head, between the boilers and forward 
cabin, was stove in, the stairway to it blocked up, and the 
bar-room swept away. The head of the boiler was blown 
out, and the top rent fore and aft. In consequence of the 
larboard boiler and works being comparatively uninjured, 
the boat heeled to that side, and the starboard side was kept 
out of the water, except when she rolled, when the sea 
rushed in at the breach. The boat continued to settle rap- 
idly, and in about forty minutes the water had reached the 
promenade deck, above the ladies' cabin. Previously to this 
period, the ladies, children, and the gentlemen, who were in 
the after part of the boat, were placed on the pronienade 
deck. About the time the water reached that point, the 
boat parted in two, with a tremendous crash, and the bow 
and the stern rose somewhat out of the water j but the latter 



THE BOATS ARE LOWERED. 



163 




Explosion of the Steam Boiler on Board of the Pulaski. 

again continued to sink, until the water reached the prome- 
nade deck, when it separated in three parts, upset, and pre- 
cipitated all on it into the water. Many then regained the 
detached portions. The gentlemen, who occupied the for- 
ward cabin, took refuge on the extreme point of the bow, 
when the boat broke in two, and clung to it and the fore- 
mast ; others had placed themselves on settees, and the 
fragments of the wreck. 

There were four boats belonging to the steamer; two being 
slung to the sides, and two placed on top of the promenade 
deck. The side boats were both lowered dow^n, within five 
minutes of the explosion. In that on the starboard side, 
tlie first mate, Mr. Hibbert, Mr. Swift, and one other per- 
son, had placed themselves. In that on the larboard side, 
were Mr. J. H. Cooper, with Mrs. Nightingale and child, 
and Mrs. Eraser and her son, who were under his charge, 
Captain R. W. Pooler and son, and Mr. William Robertson, 
all of Georgia, Barney and Soloman, of the crew% and two 
colored wom.en. By direction of the mate, two of the crew 
launched one of the deck boats and got into her ; but as, from 
her long exposure to the sun, her seams were all open, she 



164 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

instantly filled, and Mr. Hibbert removed the men to his 
boat. The boats met, when those in the second proposed 
to Mr. Hibbert to strike out for the land, as it had on board 
as many as it could with any safety carry. This he de- 
clined to do, as he said he was determined to stay by the 
wreck till daylight, and had yet room for four persons. 
Both boats then continued to row around the wreck until 
the mate's boat had picked up as many as she could carry, 
when Mr. Hibbert yielded to the propriety of consulting 
the safety of those in the boats, by going to the land, as 
their further stay would endanger them, without affording 
any aid to their suffering friends ; and they left the wreck at 
three o'clock, A. M. The boats took a north-west course, 
being favored by a heavy sea and strong breeze from the 
south-east. 

At twelve o'clock they made the land, and at three, P. M., 
were near the beach. Mr. Hibbert then waited until the 
second boat got up, and informed them that those in the 
boat refused to row any further, and insisted on landing. 
Mr. Cooper united with him in protesting against the meas- 
ure, as, from the heavy breakers which were dashing on the 
beach, as far as the eye could reach, it was obviously one of 
great peril. Being overruled, they submitted to make the 
attempt. The mate, who had previously taken the two col- 
ored women from the second boat, then proposed to lead 
the way, and requested Mr, Cooper to lie off, until he had 
effected a landing, and was prepared to aid the ladies and 
children. The first boat then entered the surf, and disap- 
peared, for several minutes, from those in the other boat, 
having been instantly filled with water. Six of the persons 
in her, viz., Mr. Hibbert, Mr. Swift, Mr. Tappan, Mr. Leuch- 
tenberg, and West and Brown, of the crew, landed in safety. 
An old gentleman, supposed to be Judge Rochester, for- 
merly of Buffalo, N. Y., Mr. Bird, of Georgia, the two col- 
ored women, and a boat hand, were drowned. The other 
boat continued to keep off until about sunset, when, finding 
the night approaching, and there being no appearance of 
aid, or change in the wind, which was blowing freshly in to 
the land, and the persons in the boat having previously re- 
fused to attempt to row any farther, Mr. Cooper reluctantly 
consented to attempt the landing. 



THE LANDING OF THE SECOND BOAT. 165 

Before the attempt, it was thought necessary, to prevent 
the infant of Mrs. Nightingale, which was only seven months 
old, from being lost, to lash it to her person, which was done. 
Just as the sun was setting, the bow of the boat was turned 
to the shore ; and, Mr. Cooper sculling, and the two men at 
the oars, she was pulled into the breakers. She rose with- 
out difficulty upon the first breaker, but the second, combing 
out with great violence, struck the oar from the hand of one 
of the rowers. The boat was thus thrown into the trough 
of the sea, and the succeeding breaker struck her broadside, 
and turned her bottom upwards. Upon regaining the surf, 
Mr. Cooper laid hold of the boat, and soon discovered that 
the rest of the party, with the exception of Mrs. Nightin- 
gale, were making for the shore : of her, for a few moments, 
he saw nothing, but presently feeling something like the 
dress of a female touching his foot, he again dived down, 
and was fortunate enough to grasp her by the hair. The 
surf continued to break over them with great violence ; but 
after a struggle, in which their strength spent its last efforts, 
they reached the shore, utterly worn out with fatigue, hun- 
ger, thirst, and the most intense overwhelming excitement. 
Besides this, the ladies and children were suffering from the 
cold. The party proceeded a short distance from the shore, 
where the ladies lay down on the side of a sand hill, and 
their protectors covered them and their children with sand, 
to prevent them from perishing. Meantime, some of the 
party went in quest of aid, and about ten o'clock at night 
the whole party found a kind and hospitable reception, 
shelter, food, and clothing, under the roof of Mr. Siglee 
Redd, of Onslow county. 

Mrs. Nightingale is the daughter of John A. King, Esq., 
of New York, and a granddaughter of the late distinguished 
Rufus King. During the whole of the perils through which 
they passed, she and Mrs. Fraser displayed the highest qual- 
ities of fortitude and heroism. They owe the preservation 
of their own and their children's lives, under Providence, 
to the coolness, intrepidity, and firmness, of Mr. Cooper and 
his assistants, and to the steadiness with which they second- 
ed the wise and humane efforts of that gentleman, in their 
behalf. 

On Monday they reached Wilmington, where they found 



166 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

a deep sympathy for their misfortune pervading the whole 
city, and generous emulation among its inhabitants to render 
them every possible assistance. 

The forvi^ard part of the boat, after the separation, con- 
tinued to float. On it were Major Heath and twenty-one 
others. It is impossible to convey, in words, any thing more 
than a faint idea of the suffering they underwent, or of the 
many harrowing and distressing circumstances which oc- 
curred during tlie four days they were on the wreck. 

But a short time before the explosion, it was remarked, 
by one of the passengers, to Major Heath, that the gauge 
showed thirty inches of steam. On the attention of the 
engineer being called to this fact, he replied that it would 
bear, with safety, forty inches. Major Heath had just re- 
tired to the afier cabin. A number of passengers were 
lying on the settees, and when the boiler burst, the steam 
rushed into the cabin, and, it is thought, instantly killed 
them, as they turned over, fell on the floor, and never were 
seen by the major to move afterwards. He had, on hearing 
the noise of the explosion, got out of his berth, and ran to 
the steps, the steam meeting him in the cabin. He got under 
the steps, as did Mr. Lovejoy, of Georgia, and they were thus 
shielded from its eflfects. 

In a few moments he went on deck, and found all dark. 
He called for the captain, and receiving no answer, made 
for the mast, as he felt that the boat was sinking. Before 
he could secure himself, the sea burst over him and carried 
him away. Fortunately, however, a rope had caught round 
his leg, and with this he pulled himself back. The mast, 
as soon as he had been washed from it, fell, and crushed 
one of the passengers, Mr. Auze, a French gentleman of 
Augusta. The boat now broke in two, and the deck, for- 
ward of the mast, was carried away from the rest of the 
vessel, seemingly very swiftly. Nothing more was seen 
after this, by Major Heath, of the yawl or the after part of 
the boat ; but, in about half an hour, he heard a wild scream 
and then all was quiet ! This must have been when the 
promenade deck turned over, with at least a hundred human 
beings upon it ! 

When daylight broke, he found that there were twenty- 
two on the wreck with him ; among them Captain Pearson, 



THE SUFFERINGS OF A BOY. 167 

who had been blown out into the sea, but who had caught 
a plank, and succeeded in reaching them during the 
night. 

The danger of their situation was at once fully realized. 
The heavy mast lay across the deck, on which they rested, 
and kept it about twelve inches under water, and the planks 
were evidently fast parting ! Captain Pearson, with the 
rest, set himself to work to lash the wreck together by the 
aid of a few ropes on the mast, — letting the ropes sink on 
one side of the raft, which, passing under, came up on the 
other side ; and by repeating this operation they formed a 
kind of net-work over it. They also succeeded in lashing 
two large boxes to their raft, which formed seats. 

Friday passed without any vessel coming in sight. Their 
thirst now became intense. The heat of the sun was very 
oppressive ; its rays pouring down on their bare heads, and 
blistering their faces and backs ; some not having even a 
shirt on, and none more than shirt and pantaloons. 

The sufferings of the younger portion of their company, 
at this time, became very great. Major Twiggs, of the 
United States' army, had saved his child, a boy about twelve 
years of age. He kept him in his arms nearly all the time ; 
and when he would call on his mother, who was safe at 
home, and beg for water, his father would seek, in vain, to 
comfort him by words of kindness, and clasping him closer 
to his heart. 

On Saturday they fell in with another portion of the 
wreck, on which were Chicken and three others, whom 
they took on their raft. Towards the close of the evening 
they had approached within half a mile of the shore, as 
they thought, and many were very anxious to make an effort 
to landc This was objected to by Major Heath, as the 
breakers ran very high, and would have dashed the raft to 
pieces on the shore. Mr. Greenwood, of Georgia, told the 
major that he was one of the best swimmers in the country, 
and that he would tie a rope around him and swim ashore. 
" No, no," repHed the major, " you shall not risk your hfe 
for me, under these circumstances ; and in such an attempt 
you would lose your life. No, I am the old man in danger, 
and will not increase the risk of others." All hope of land- 
ing, then, was shortly afterwards given up, as a slight breeze 



168 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

from the shore was now carrying them out to sea. Despair 
now seemed to seize on some of them ; and one suggested 
that, if relief did not soon reach them, it would be necessary 
to cast lots ! The firmness and resolution of Major Heath 
soon put this horrid idea to flight. " We are Christians," 
he told them, " and we cannot innocently imbrue our hand 
in the blood of a fellow-creature. A horrible catastrophe 
has deprived hundreds of their lives, brought sorrow to 
many a hearth, and thrown us upon the mercy of the winds 
and waves. We have still life left ; let us not give up all 
manliness, and sink to the brute. We have all our thoughts 
about us, and should face death, which must sooner or later 
overtake us, with the spirit that becomes us as Christians. 
When that hour arrives, I will lay down my life without a 
murmur ; and I will risk it now for the safety of any one of 
you ; but I will never stand by and see another sacrificed, 
that we may drink his blood and eat his flesh ! " With such 
words as these did he quiet them, and reconcile them to 
await the issue. The day wore away again, without the 
sight of a vessel to cheer thoir drooping spirits. 

On Sunday morning it commenced raining, with a stiff 
breeze from the north-east, which soon increased to a severe 
gale. Every effort was made to catch some of the falling 
rain, in the piece of canvass which they had taken from 
the mast ; but the sea ran so high that the little they did 
catch was nearly as salt as the ocean. Still, the rain 
cooled them, and, in their situation, was refreshing and 
grateful. 

On Monday morning they saw four vessels. They 
raised on a pole a piece of the flag, that was attached to 
the mast, and waved it, but in vain. The vessels were too 
far oflf, and hope was nearly gone, as they watched them 
pass from their sight. They had now been without food or 
water for four days and nights ; their tongues were dry in 
their mouths ; their flesh burnt and blistered by the sun, and 
their brains fevered, and many of them began to exhibit the 
peculiar madness attendant on starvation. They could not 
sleep either, as the raft was almost always under water, and 
it required continual watchfulness to keep themselves from 
being washed over by the sea. Major Heath never, for a 
moment, lost his consciousness. 



THEY ARE DISCOVERED. 



169 



On Tuesday morning, a vessel hove in sight ; and her 
track seemed to be much nearer them than those they had 
seen the day before. They again waved their flag and 
raised their feeble voices. Still the vessel kept on her 
track, which appeared to carry her away from them. " She 
is gone," said one of the crew, a poor fellow who had been 
dreadfully scalded ; and he laid himself down on one of the 
boxes, as he said, " to die." Captain Pearson, who had 




The Survivors on the Forecastle discovered by the Schooner. 



" She sees us ! 
All sails set, 



been closely watching the vessel, cried out, 
she is coming toward us ! " And so it was 
and full before the wind, the vessel made for them. The 
schooner proved to be the Henry Camerdon, bound from 
Philadelphia to Wilmington, N. C. As soon as the captain 
came within speaking distance, he took his trumpet and 
15 



170 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FULASKI. 

cried out, '' Be of good cheer ; I will save you." It was the 
first strange voice that had reached their ears for five days, 
which were to them as an age. 

When the schooner came alongside, they all rushed fran- 
ticly on deck, and it was with some difficulty the captain 
could keep them from the water-casks. He immediately 
gave each of them a half pint of water, sweetened with 
molasses, and repeated it at short intervals. His prudence^ 
doubtless, preserved their lives. 

During the morning, Major Heath and his company had 
seen another portion of the wreck, with several persons on 
it ; and as soon as the captain of the Henry Camerdon was 
told of it, he sailed in the direction it had been seen, and 
shortly after came in sight. On this wreck, which was a 
part of the promenade deck, were Miss Rebecca Lamar, 
Mrs. Noah Smith, of Augusta, Master Charles Lamar, of 
Savannah, and Mr. Robert Hutchinson, also of Savannah 
The two ladies were much exliausted, and Master Lamar 
was almost dead. Every comfort that the schooner was 
possessed of was freely bestowed by the taptain. 

One of the survivors on this wreck. Captain Hubbard, 
was asleep at the time of the explosion. He immediately 
jumped from his berth, and, though nearly suffocated by 
the steam, made his way to the ladies' cabin, in search of 
his wife. Telling her to dress, and to remain quiet tijl his 
return, he repaired to the cabin, where he dressed himself, 
and again returned to his wife. At this time he found that 
the hold was filling with water, and he immediately com- 
menced the formation of rafts from settees, tables, and other 
movables, on which many of the passengers launched into 
the ocean. Captain Hubbard and his wife remained on the 
main deck till the water was nearly three feet deep, when 
they climbed to the promenade deck, where there were 
some fifty persons collected, chiefly females. The feeling 
that prevailed seemed to be that of resigned determination. 
There were sobbing and weeping, but no turbulent expression 
of fear or despair. A quiet preparation for an awful catas- 
trophe appeared to be universal. There were among them 
husbands and wives, who embraced each other with calm 
aflfection, and whose only expression was, that " they would 
die in each other's arms.", When the deck began to roll 



AFFECTING SCENE THE HUSBAND AND WIFE. 171 

over, Captain Hubbard directed his wife to keep by him, as 
he followed the roll of the boat, with the intention of reach- 
ing the side. In this wa.y they had nearly effected their 
escape. Captain Hubbard had succeeded in grasping the 
keel, when he dropped his hold, to extend a hand to his 
wife. She reached him, and was clinging to his neck ; 
while two other females, who had followed close in their 
track, were also hanging on him. At this moment a sea 
swept over them, which washed away all w^ho had been upon 
the deck. Captain Hubbard perceived that, in this situation, 
both himself and wife would inevitably perish. They were 
both sinking, when, from exhaustion, or in a movement to 
change her hold, she relaxed her grasp, and they both sank 
together. From this moment he never saw her more. On 
rising, he encountered a box, which had floated from the 
wreck, on which he remained half an hour, in a state of 
almost utter unconsciousness, when he was taken from the 
promenade deck, to which a number of other passengers 
had floated on fragments of the wreck. Of all who were 
on that part of the boat, when it capsized, he thinks not a 
soul survives but himself! 

Captain Hubbard is of opinion, with most of those who 
remained upon the wreck, that the boat in which the mate, 
Hibbert, escaped, might have been so employed as to have 
saved the lives of nearly all on board. 

One incident is mentioned, in this connection, which is, 
beyond any thing else in this melancholy divsaster, painfully 
affecting. While the boat was lying off, one of the passen- 
gers, frantic with alarm, and without knowing what he was 
about, jumped towards her, but fell far short. He turned at 
once, sensible of his situation, and probably remembering 
whom he had left behind, with the view of regaining the 
wreck. His wife screamed to him by name, " Where are 
you ? where are you ? " He replied, from the waves, " I'm 
here, my dear; I'm here." " I'm coming, my husband," she 
rejoined, and, leaping on the railing of the deck, plunged 
headlong into the sea. 

At daylight, on the morning after the disaster, it was 
ascertained that there were fourteen individuals. Captain 
Hubbard inclusive, on the promenade deck. In the course 
of that day, eleven others were picked up, three from a boat, 



172 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

and eight from fragments of the wreck. With such aid as 
could be rendered, Captain Hubbard proceeded to repair 
and calk the boat. They remained all on the raft till 
about nine o'clock on Saturday morning. At this time, 
with the consent and approbation of their fellow-sufferers, 
Captain Hubbard and five others put off in the boat, in the 
hopes of gaining the shore. The separation doubled the 
chances of escape of the whole party, as, if the boat failed 
to procure assistance from the shore, it might fall in with 
some vessel that would be able to render the necessary assist- 
ance. They rigged a mast and sail from a split plank and 
table-cloth, and, with a piece of board for a rudder, were 
launched from the wreck, taking an affecting leave of those 
they left behind, and receiving the benediction of the clergy- 
man, Dr. Woat, who afterwards perished from fatigue and 
exhaustion. After the lapse of five hours, having run down 
the coast with the view of selecting the least exposed situa- 
tion, Captain Hubbard turned the head of the boat for the 
breakers, telling his companions that the most perilous mo- 
ment had arrived, and that each must encounter it for him- 
self. They had brought with them, from the wreck, as many 
planks as could be taken, without encumbering the boat; 
and to these they trusted to effect their escape through the 
surf. The first breaker the " boat rode like a duck," and 
was carried by it some two hundred yards. The second 
was surmounted with equal success. At the approach of 
the third, Captain Hubbard perceived that the boat was wa- 
vering; she turned her side to it, and in a moment was cap- 
sized. Captain Hubbard had seized a plank, which he threw 
to one of his companions, and trusted to his own strength for 
his safety. Four more breakers threw Captain Hubbard, and 
three others, on the beach ; when, by the means of the boards 
and their own personal assistance, they succeeded in drawing 
their remaining companions, who were still strugghng with 
the waters, to the shore. The point where they effected 
their landing, was in Onslow Bay, a mile and a half south 
and west of the entrance to New River. At this bay they 
found a schooner ; but such was the state of the weather, * 
that it was impossible to get to sea in her, in the hope of 
rendering any assistance to those who were left on the 
wreck. 



CAPTAIN PEARSON BLOWN FROM HIS BERTH. 173 

' Captain Hubbard speaks in the warmest admiration of 
the conduct of Miss Rebecca Lamar, and of her singular 
firmness and self-possession, with her never-failing effort to 
cheer and encourage them, and rally their sinking and de- 
spairing spirits. To use his own language, " She was our 
preserving angeV The other ladies on the wreck behaved 
with remarkable fortitude. 

From Captain Pearson, the chief mate, who was on the 
part of the wreck with Major Twiggs, we have the following 
particulars: "June 13th, at half past five, P. M., I sounded 
on the Frying Pan Shoals, in five fathoms of water, and 
shaped the course of the boat for Cape Lookout Shoal. I 
was in conversation with some of the passengers on the 
promenade deck, where I remained until ten o'clock, P. M., 
after which all retired below. At ten o'clock I went to 
the engine-room and examined the steam gauge, which 
I found indicated twenty-six inches. This I thought was 
doing very well, as the speed of the boat increased as 
she grew lighter, and of course worked off the steam 
sooner. 

" Finding all things as they should be, I called Mr. Hib- 
bert on deck, and gave him charge of the boat, observing to 
him that he must keep a good lookout, and call me at 
twelve o'clock, as I thought we should reach Cape Lookout 
about half past one, or at least I should then take the soundr 
ings. I also told him that Captain Dubois was lying in the 
steering-house, where he would find him. When the ex- 
plosion took place, which 1 should judge to be about eleven 
o'clock, P. M., I experienced rather a pleasant sensation, as 
though I were dreaming that I was flying in the air. I was 
awakened by falling on my back in the water, surrounded 
by the fragments of my room. Immediately conscious of 
my situation, I got on a small board and swam for the boat, 
which appeared to be thirty or forty yards distant, and still 
going rapidly. I saw the heads of seven persons near me, 
but could not tell whether they were white persons or not. 
I continued to swim for the boat, and finding my clothes an 
'impediment, I soon divested myself of them. My watch- 
guard became entangled around my wrist, which I was com- 
pelled to break and let go. As near as I could judge, I 
must have been swimming three quarters of an hour. 
15* 



174 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

When I had approached within one hundred yards of the 
boat, I saw her lights begin gradually to disappear. I 
stopped and exclaimed, ' My God, is the Pulaski sinking ? ' 
I renewed my efforts to reach her, and soon found my worst 
fears realized, as her bow sunk deep beneath the surface. 
I then swam towards the stern, and when within ten or 
fifteen feet, I saw the heads of people. I called for a boat 
as loud as I was able for some time, but received no answer. 
I then swam towards the head of the steamboat, and saw 
.the forward part of her main bottom keel up, and near it 
the forward part of the main deck. I approached, and saw 
men standing there. I called to a gentleman near the side, 
and told him my name, which he immediately made known 
to the others, and threw me a rope. His name is Mr. 
Gregory, of Georgia, and I shall ever remember him with 
gratitude. When I got on to the wreck, my first object was 
to procure the boats, hoping to assist some of the unfortu- 
nate ladies, for whose safety I would willingly have risked 
my life, and so expressed myself in the presence of Mr. 
Gregory and others. 

" Finding that we should have to lighten our wreck, I in- 
formed the gentlemen present that my left arm was badly 
scalded, and useless to me, but that I would direct them in 
their exertions for our safety. A quantity of iron, and the 
best bower anchor, were thrown over. The chain being 
fastened, I soon found that we were at anchor, and to re- 
main so long would founder our wreck. With great diffi- 
culty we filed a pin loose, which we backed out, and then 
let the chain and small bower go. Having erected a shed 
on deck, and rigged a jury-mast, we set sail, with a small 
color flying as a signol of distress, to any vessel that might 
see us. On the 15th we saw the stern of the steamboat 
about north-north-east, as near as I could judge, but could 
discern no one on it. On Saturday, I found our wreck was 
fast beating to pieces, and that it was necessary to bind it 
together, which we did with a cable. We also found it 
necessary to cut away the mast, as it pried up the deck. 
To do this was a Herculean labor ; the only instrument we 
had was an oyster-knife, which we sharpened like a chisel, 
with a file. This was the work of a whole day." 

Mr. Meritt, of Mobile, embarked on board of the Pulaski 



DISTRESSING SITUATION OF THE LADIES. 175 

with his wife and child ; they were both lost. When the 
explosion took place, he indulged the hope that the boat 
would continue to float, and after hastening to his wife and 
child, in the ladies' cabin, returned towards the middle of 
the boat, to ascertain more distincdy the extent of the dam- 
age, and take such measures as might be in the power of 
the crew and passengers, in order to prevent the water from 
coming in on the side where the boiler had exploded. A 
few moments, however, served to convince him that the boat 
must sink. He found the water entering on both sides, and 
also apparently through the bottom, and all hope of check- 
ing its ingress abandoned. He then hastened back to the 
ladies' cabin, and on requesting them to dress themselves, 
and be in readiness to meet the impending peril, a scene of 
terror and anguish ensued, which was well calculated to melt 
the stoutest heart. Women clung round him with entreaties 
that he would save them, while mothers as importunately 
begged, not for themselves, but for the preservation of their 
children. In a short time, the inmates of the ladies' cabin, 
together with a number of gentlemen, were assembled on 
the promenade deck, whither they had taken refuge, in con- 
sequence of the continued settling of the hull in the water. 
The further sinking of the hull, and the parting of the prom- 
enade deck, as have been heretofore related, threw those 
who were on it into the sea, and among them Mr. Meritt, 
his wife and child. Being an excellent swimmer, he was 
enabled to sustain both, although the difficulty of so doing 
was greatly increased, by the close cling of the child to the 
mother. 

While thus engaged, a boy, of twelve or fourteen years, 
caught hold of him for help, and he, too, was sustained, 
until Mr. Meritt proposed to hini to mount a fragment of 
the wreck, floating near. The boy accordingly mounted on 
it, and seemed to be so well able to support himself, that 
Mr. Meritt asked him to take his child on the fragment, 
which the lad readily acceded to. Mr. Meritt was now able 
to bestow his whole strength in sustaining his wife ; when, 
to his horror, he felt himself clasped from behind, around 
the lower part of his body, by the iron grasp of a stout, 
athletic man, evidently struggling for his life. An instant 
was sufficient to satisfy Mr. Meritt that the grasp of the man 



176 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

would drown them all ; and telling his wife that this would 
be the case, without he could extricate himself, he asked her 
to rally her strength for an effort to reach a piece of the 
wreck, close by, to which she consented : giving her a push 
towards it, with as much power as his peculiar situation 
would admit, he saw her gain it. In the mean time, his 
own case called for immediate relief; but he found himself, 
on making the effort, utterly unable to gain a release from 
the powerful hold, which was fastened round his body with 
an iron firmness. There was but one hope left, and there 
was not one moment allowed him to deliberate on it. Mr. 
Meritt had been an expert swimmer and diver when a boy, 
and to sink under the waves, with the man clinging to him, 
was the last, the only resort remaining. They went down 
together, and the man relaxed his hold, before Mr. Meritt's 
breath became exhausted. On rising again towards the sur- 
face, he struck against pieces of the wreck, which were now 
floating over him, and after some difficulty cleared them so 
as to. breathe again ; but on looking around he could neither 
discover his wife, child, or the boy. What had occurred 
during the brief space that he was beneath the waves, he 
knew not ; but he neither heard nor saw them any more. 

Soon after, he reached what he supposed was a hatch- 
way, and this sustained him pretty well. While thus float- 
ing, he discovered, near him, a man on a smaller fragment, 
evidently much exhausted. He called to him to come to 
the hatch, as a place of greater safety ; and, after no little 
effort, his fellow-sufferer was placed upon it. The weight of 
the two, however, was found to be rather too much for the 
hatch to sustain ; and subsequently falling in with a largei 
fragment, they were enabled to float without being immersed. 
On this the two remained from Friday night until Sunday, 
having on Saturday experienced a severe gale, which, foi 
hours, threatened to destroy their frail float, and ingulf them 
in the ocean. On Sunday they neared the land, and were 
cast ashore on the coast of North Carolina. 

Mr. Stewart, the companion of Mr. Meritt, says, " Aftei 
the explosion, the boat still moved on, from the previous 
force given her. I saw a small boat, with some persons ip 
it, lying somewhat astern of us ; this, I suppose, was one of 
the boats that got ashore. The steam-packet was fast sink 



SEVERAL PERSONS JUMP OVERBOARD. 177 

mg, the water pouring over the guards. About this time, I 
assisted some lady — God knows who — to get on the upper 
deck, who begged me to get her husband up, and said he 
was an old, gray-headed man. I did not see him. I also 
heard a lady crying in a loud voice for her husband, pro- 
nouncing his name repeatedly — ^ Mr. Ball.' A gentleman, 
that I supposed was Mr. Ball, sprang from the fore part of 
the boat into the water, and made for his wife ; but must 
have sunk before he reached the after part. Several per- 
sons wildly jumped overboard, and tried to reach settees, 
&-C., and, sinking, called for something to be thrown them. 
The weight of the machinery, I suppose, caused the boat to 
sink faster in the centre, which threw up the stern. She 
then parted. The stern part of the boat, upon which I was, 
turned a complete somerset ; and when it was about perpen- 
dicular, I let go of the davit ropes, to which I was clinging. 
Many others were thrown off at the same time. I was sunk 
in the water for some time, and was grasped by persons I 
supposed to be ladies, from their clothes, and was kept down 
probably twenty feet : after they let go, I came up, amidst a 
crowd of persons. I thought if I remained here I should 
inevitably be borne down ; I therefore swam off as well as I 
could. It was light enough for me to see persons. I saw 
the larger parts of the wreck, which seemed to be distant 
about one hundred yards. There were vast quantities of 
fragments floating around me ; and, fortunately, I got upon a 
piece, — a hatch, — and picking up a small plank, I paddled 
off from the body of the wreck, thinking the heavy swell 
would dash me to pieces, if I came in contact with it. In 
about an hour I saw a person upon a fragment. It was Mr. 
Meritt, of Mobile, he informed me. We concluded to get 
our pieces together: meeting with a larger and a longer 
fragment just ahead, we reached it, and got our pieces on 
it. Mr. Meritt had been on a hatch. A rope happened to 
be fastened to one of the rings ; he cut the rope with his 
knife ; we unrove it, and fastened our pieces pretty firmly on 
it. We also found an oar, which was afterwards of essen- 
tial service to us. About three o'clock there was a severe 
squall, which lasted but a few minutes. At daylight we 
saw some fourteen or fifteen rafts, pretty much in a line, 
some before, others behind, and some three miles distant. 



178 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

The wind was about east, and setting us, I thought, in for 
the land. Some of the rafts I saw had persons on board. 
I recollect there was a raft passed near me, which seemed 
to be made up of lumber, plank, and a vast quantity of 
wood, with a solitary being upon it — a negro man, who 
had got up a small sail. We picked up a stool, which float- 
ed near, upon which Mr. Meritt and myself alternately took 
our turns at steering. We had taken off the hatches, and got 
up a sort of mast. From the canvass we made a sail ; and 
our object was to keep our craft before the wind, to prevent 
her turning over. She went before the wind very well. 
We were frequently immersed in the water, and kept con- 
stantly wet, without food or fresh drink. 

'• I had no stockings or hat on, and suffered immensely 
from the rays of a scorching sun, during the day, and at 
night I was chilled almost to death. Mr. Meritt happened 
to be better clad. He had on his pantaloons, and saved his 
watch. On Friday evening, we thought we saw a lighthouse, 
but it proved to be a vessel. The sharks threatened to de- 
vour us, as they were all around us on Friday and Saturday, 
and would greedily seize on chips or rubbish, that fell from 
the raft. I was fearful they would break our oar, when we 
should have got in the trough of the sea, and buried over. 
On Saturday evening, I thought I saw land. Mr. Meritt 
thought I was mistaken, as in the evening there was a fog 
that might be mistaken for the shore. Shortly after, we 
were both convinced we saw land, distant about ten miles. 
This was a joyful sight. Mr. Meritt sprang up, crying, 
' Thank God, it is land,' and said to me, he had one hundred 
dollars with him, which he had fortunately put in his pocket 
the day before the disaster had occurred. This he kindly 
said he would divide with us, should we ever reach the shore. 
At daylight, Sunday morning, we were quite near the land, 
not going directly for it, but running along shore, and gradu- 
ally approximating it ; about ten o'clock, w^e v^^ere thrown 
into the breakers. Mr. Meritt was first thrown off, and after 
a while reached the shore before I did. About the third 
breaker, my frail bark was precipitated over my head, and it 
was fortunate it did not strike me ; it kept somewhat ahead 
of me. After a short time, I touched bottom in about three 
feet of water, and rapidly made for the beach, which I 



L 



FIDELITY OF DR. STEWART S SERVANT. IS I 

reached. I was so completely exhausted, I could scarcely 
crawl up the beach, upon which I lay, in a state of insen- 
sibility, until about eleven o'clock next day, when a benevo- 
lent man, Mr. Spicer, who resides near New River Inlet, 
came across me. He inquired if I had companions. 1 told 
him Mr, Meritt. 

" After putting a plank to keep the sun from my face, he 
went to look for Mr. Meritt, and came back and told me he 
could not find him. Mr. Meritt, I learned afterwards, got 
to a hut, v^^here he fell, in an exhausted state, finding it was 
deserted : some fishermen found him there, and roused him 
up. He directed them to look for me, which they did ; but, 
it being late in the evening, they did not find me. The 
shore, where we landed, was a low beach, with some scrub 
pines upon it, and there was a sound between that and the 
main land. 

''Mr. Spicer, for whom I shall always feel under ten 
thousand obligations, took me across the sound to his own 
house, where I remained, with every attention paid me by 
Mr. Spicer and family, until Thursday. The sun and salt 
water had completely skinned me, and cream was applied. 
On Thursday I reached Wilmington, where W. N. Peder, 
Esq., kindly took me to his own house, and rendered every 
assistance. M. T. Goldsborough volunteered a loan to me, 
for which I am under great obligations to him. The citizens 
of Wilmington, and all along as I came, were, however, so 
kind, that I had but little occasion for money. Dr. Stew- 
art's servant girl came with me. After the wreck, she states 
she was with six others on a raft. Dr. Stewart, she says, 
was with her on the wreck until Monday, when he died from 
exhaustion. His servant kept his head above the water for 
two days, after the doctor was too enfeebled to hold on. 
He told the servant that he saw his wife go down, after the 
terrible disaster, several times, and could be of no service to 
her. The next day, Friday, the doctor and his servant saw 
many dead bodies floating near, and among the rest, his little 
child, two years old. What a dreadful spectacle ! The 
doctor, before his death, became delirious : when he ex- 
pired, his lifeless body was silently swept into the sea. Sev- 
eral persons, the girl states, in fits of deUrium, jumped oflf 
the raft. 

16 



182 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

'' The exposure that I had to encounter, together with the 
horror of soul at the terrific scene I passed through, (which 
now I can scarcely realize, as it seems like an awful dream,) 
occasioned me infinite suffering ; but, in my illness, I was, by 
the hand of an all-wise Providence, thrown amongst the kind- 
est people I ever saw. I shall recollect them as long as pul- 
sation vibrates through my heart." 

From Mr. B. W. Fosdick, of Boston, who was on an- 
other of the small rafts, we have the following additional 
particulars : — 

" The weather was pleasant all of the day wTiich pre- 
ceded the night of the terrible disaster. There was a fresh 
breeze and some sea ; and, as is usual on the first day out, 
the greater part of the passengers were a little sea-sick, and 
some retired to their berths, or lay Hstlessly about on the 
settees upon deck ; and when evening came, most of them 
had retired. I was one of the number that did not feel ex- 
actly well, and went to bed, in the after cabin, about eight 
o'clock ; and had slept for some hours, when I was awaked, 
about eleven o'clock, by a loud report, followed by a tre- 
mendous crash. My first impression was, that we had gone 
ashore, or had run into some vessel. It did not occur to me 
that the boiler had burst ; and finding myself uninjured, I 
dressed myself entirely, putting my watch in my pocket, and 
taking my hat, and from the pocket of my cloak a hght cap, 
which I put into my hat, thinking it would be of use, in case 
I could not keep my hat upon my head. Before I had fin- 
ished dressing, a person ran down into the cabin, exclaim- 
ing, 'The boat is on fire — come up and bring buckets to 
extinguish it.' This person, I believe, was Mr. Sherman 
Miller. I never saw him afterwards. I immediately started 
for the deck, and as I approached the cabin stairs, found 
that a number of the planks of the cabin floor had been 
torn up ; and as it was quite dark in the cabin, there being 
but one or two candles burning, I came near falhng through 
into the-hold. When I reached the deck, I found that the 
boiler had burst. The confusion was very great : men and 
women were running from one part to the other ; some 
calling for their wives, others for their husbands. On going 
forward, I found I could get no farther than the shaft. Be- 
yond that, as far as the wheel-house, all appeared to be in 



AFFECTING INSTANCE OF FIDELITY. 183 

ruins and in darkness ; and at every roll of the boat the 
water would rush in. There was one solitary lantern near 
me, and this I lashed to the ceiling. In doing so, I saw a 
person among the ruins of the engine, trying to get out, and 
moaning and crying aloud, * Gone — gone — gone — firemen, 
help me — firemen, help me.' In a few minutes some one 
came to his assistance, and extricated him. This person, I 
afterwards learned, was one of the firemen. I then went 
aft again, and with some others assisted in removing some 
of the rubbish in the gangway, for, at this time, I think no 
one supposed the boat would sink, and we thought it best 
to have as clear a place as possible on deck. But we soon 
found this of no avail, for the water was rushing in rapidly, 
and every one began to turn his attention to preparing some- 
thing to support himself upon the water ; such as lashing 
settees together, and tables, &c. A negro was discovered 
preparing something of this kind, and on being asked what 
he was going to do, s^iid, 'J am going to try to save my 
master ; ' appearing perfectly regardless of himself. The 
two quarter-boats were lowered into the water; but when, 
I do not recollect, though I have an indistinct remembrance 
of seeing one of them lowered by two or three persons. 
The boat now appeared to be sinking pretty fast, and I 
climbed to the promenade deck, (the only way to get there, 
for the stairs were at the forward part of the boat,) and there 
I found some forty or fifty persons, many of whom were 
ladies. There was also a yawl-boat, which was filled with 
women and children ; and among them the family of G. B. 
Lamar, of Savannah. Himself and two or three other gen- 
tlemen were standing near the boat, to keep it in an upright 
position, when the promenade deck of the steamboat should 
sink, which, as the boat had broken in two in the middle, it 
had begun to do; and one end was already immersed in the 
water. For the purpose of assisting in keeping the boat up- 
right, I took hold of the bows. The water was now rushing 
on deck rapidly, and the forward part of the promenade 
deck sank so fast, that the bows of the yawl-boat filled with 
water, and a wave washed me from my hold, and I sank. 
When I rose, I found myself near a piece of plank, to which 
1 clung ; but this not being large enough to support me, I 
left it ; and after getting from one fragment of the wreck to 



184 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

another, (and the water all around me was filled with frag^ 
ments,) I succeeded in finding a piece large enough to sup- 
port me sitting, and upon this I remained some ten minutes, 
and took off my boots and loosened my dress, for my clothes 
were so full of water that I could scarcely move. While 
upon this piece, I saw, near me, Mr. George Huntington, of 
Savannah. Here I will mention what was told me by a 
person, (Mr. Eldridge, of Syracuse, N. Y.,) who was upon 
the promenade deck after I was washed from it. He says 
that nearly all the females in the yawl-boat were drowned at 
the time it filled. After removing my boots, I remained 
quiet some ten or fifteen minutes, when I heard some per- 
sons calling out not far from me, and concluded they were 
in one of the boats ; but, upon inquiring, found it was a part 
of the ladies' cabin, (the side,) and that there were two per- 
sons upon it, (Andrew Stewart and Owen Gallagher, deck 
hands,) and that there was room enough for another, and 
that they would take one upon it, if I could get up to it — 
but that they had no means of coming to me. I knew the 
only chance of safety was to reach it — and I made a des- 
perate effort, and succeeded, by swimming, and by getting 
from plank to plank, which were scattered all around me, in 
reaching it, and was pulled upon it almost exhausted. This 
piece of the ladies' cabin was then about ten feet wide, by 
forty-five feet long ; but in the course of the night we lost 
ten or fifteen feet of it — leaving us a piece of thirty feet in 
length. Upon this we sat all night, with the water about a 
foot deep. The wind was blowing quite fresh, in a direc- 
tion toward the land, and our raft, being long and narrow, 
made very good progress ; and in the course of two hours 
after the bursting of the boiler, we were out of sight of the 
wreck. About this time we discovered, approaching near 
us, a portion of the deck of the steamboat, with an upright 
post near the centre of it — and upon it were Mr. George 
Huntington and two other persons. They said they were 
all from Savannah. We lashed the two rafts together with 
a rope, which they threw us — but, finding that the sea 
dashed our rafts together with considerable violence, we 
concluded it would be better to separate again — and we 
did so. Mr. Huntington wished me to take a passage with 
them, but I concluded to remain where I was. I saw them 
no more. 



MORNING DAWNS. — NO LAND IN SIGHT. 185 

^^ Friday morning came, and discovered to us our situa- 
tion. We were out of sight of land. Three rafts we saw 
at a distance. They were too far off for us to discern the 
persons upon them, but they all had signals flying. Upon 
our little raft we found a small chest, belonging to one of 
the firemen, and which afterwards served us as a seat; two 
mattresses, a sheet, a blanket, and some female wearing ap- 
parel. The mattresses we emptied of their contents, and 
with the covering of one of them we made a sail, which, 
with a good deal of difficulty, we succeeded in putting up, 
but which did us much service, for by noon we had almost 
entirely lost sight of the other rafts ; and in the afternoon 
nothing was seen, as far as the eye could reach, but sky and 
water. 

" But our spirits did not flag, for we thought that by the 
morning we must certainly fall in with some fishing boats. 
We had also found on the raft a tin box, the cover gone, 
containing some cake, wrapped up in a cloth. This was 
completely saturated with salt water, but we took a mouth- 
ful of it in the course of the day, and found it pretty good. 
There was also a keg, which floated on to the raft, contain- 
ing a little gin ; but this was of little service, for, by some 
means or other, it was mixed with salt water. The night 
came ; the wind and sea increased, and we were obliged to 
take down our little sail. During the night the waves were 
constantly washing over our raft, and the water, at all times, 
stood a foot deep upon it. We sat close together upon the 
chest, which we lashed as well as we could to the raft, and 
wrapped ourselves up in the wet blanket and clothes, for the 
night air felt very cold, after having been exposed, as we 
were, all day, to the broihng sun. We were much fatigued, 
and once, during the night, we fell asleep, and were awak- 
ened by the upsetting of our seat, which nearly threw us 
overboard. Anxiously we watched the rising of the moon, 
which rose some hours after midnight ; and still more, the 
rising of the sun, which we hoped would disclose to our 
weary eyes the sight of some distant sail. The sun at last 
did rise, but there was nothing in sight. For the first time 
we began to feel a little discouraged ; still the hope that we 
should soon see land impressed itself upon us, and eagerly 
we cast our eyes landward, every now and then, as the sun 
16* 



186 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

continued to rise. And, joyful sight 1 about six o'clock we 
thought we did see land, and in another half hour were sure 
of it. Now we redoubled our exertions ; we paddled ; we 
held up in our hands pieces of cloth — we did every thing 
to propel our little craft, for we feared the wind might 
change, and blow off shore, and then all hope would be 
lost ; for our raft, we felt sure, could not hold together an- 
other day. As we neared the land, we found the surf was 
running pretty high, but there was a sandy shore, and we 
felt no fear of this, for we saw the land, and we knew that 
soon our suspense would be at an end. 

" About four o'clock, P. M., on Saturday, we reached the 
breakers. The first breaker came over us with great vio- 
lence, and so did the second ; the third broke the raft in 
pieces, but we clung to the fragments, and soon found we 
could touch the bottom with our feet ; and in a few minutes 
we w^ere safe upon terra firma, considerably bruised and 
sun-burnt, but with our hves. And grateful did we feel to 
that Almighty Arm, which, in the hour of danger, was 
stretched over us to save and protect. And it was only by 
the mercy of a Divine Providence that we were thus saved 
from a watery grave. I forgot to mention that, on Satur- 
day, a sharlc was following us nearly all the morning, but we 
frightened it away. Near the shore, which was at New 
River Inlet, N. C, we found the house of Mr. Henderson, 
who received us in the kindest manner, and did all in his 
power for us. And from every one we met, we have re- 
ceived the utmost hospitality, especially from some gentle- 
men of Newbern, who furnished us with money to pay our 
way home. But we found that it was not much needed, for 
neither the conductors of the railroad cars, nor the captains 
of the steamboats, would receive any thing for our passage. 
I have thus made a statement of a part of what I saw on 
the dreadful night when the Pulaski was destroyed. All 
that I saw and heard, neither language can paint, nor tongue 
utter. The thought of it makes me shudder." 

Among the affecting incidents, connected with this fatal 
shipwreck, was the case of Captain Brooks, of the schooner 
Ploughboy, of Boston, who having been driven to the south 
during a gale, on the 26th of June, he fell in with the 
wreck, and saw a lady floating, in the storm, but was unable 



THE PROBABLE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER. 187 

to save her, owing to the violence of the wind, and the 
roughness of the sea ! What must have been the feehngs 
of every humane heart, thus to behold a helpless female 
tossed on the billows of the deep, and hurried to certain 
death, without the possibility of affording aid ? 

When the news of the destruction of the Pulaski reached 
New York, and it was believed all on board had perished, 
the father of one of the ladies, who, it was known, had taken 
passage on board that boat, proceeded immediately to Balti- 
more, where he arrived without hearing further from the 
wreck. On entering the public house, he inquired of the 
landlord whether he had received any further intelligence 
from the Pulaski. " None," was the answer. " Were none 
saved ? " '' None, it is believed, but the sixteen first men- 
tioned." "Do you know their names?" " I do not re- 
member them all, but the first was Mrs. . She and 

the others are safe and well." The inquirer fainted — it 
was his daughter. 

It is mentioned that the Rev. Dr. Woart and wife, after 
a most fervent prayer, clasped their child in a mutual em- 
brace, and in a few minutes the three sank together resign- 
edly into the waves. 

The unfortunate boy, C. Lamar, went mad from anxiety 
and suffering. 

The cause of the disaster was obviously the neglect of 
the second engineer, in permitting the water to boil off, or 
to blow off, in the starboard boiler, and then letting in a full 
supply of water on the heated copper. One of the hands 
saved, had, a few moments before the explosion, examined 
the steam gauge, and found it fluctuating rapidly, from 
twenty-six to twenty-nine inches. Another had just left the 
engine-room, when he heard the shrill whisthng sound of 
high pressure steam, as the engineer tried the water cock ; 
in a few seconds the explosion took place. Captain Dubois 
was seen asleep in the wheel-house, ten minutes before the 
explosion. 

The number of passengers on board was about one hun- 
dred and fifty ; and the officers and crew numbered thirty- 
three. The whole number saved were fifty-nine, viz., on 
the two large portions of the wreck, thirty ; in the two 
boats, commanded by the mate, Mr, Hibberd, and Mr. 



188 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

Cooper, sirXteen ; in the boat of Captain Hubbard and Mr 
G. B. Lamar, jive ; on other small rafts, eight. 

The following is a list of the passengers, as far as theh 
7iatnes could be ascertained:- — 

Mrs. Nightingale, child, and servant ; Mrs. Fraser and 
child ; Mrs. Wilkins and child ; Mrs. Mackey, child, and 
servant; Mrs. Wagner, child, and servant; Miss A. Park- 
man ; Miss C. Parkman ; Miss T. Parkman ; Mrs. Hutch- 
inson, two children, and servant ; Mrs. Lamar ; Miss R. 
Lamar; Miss M. Lamar; Miss R. J. Lamar; Miss E. 
Lamar ; Miss C. Lamar ; Mrs. Dunham ; Mrs. Cumming 
and servant; Mrs. Stewart and servant ; Mrs. Ward; Mrs. 
Taylor; Miss Drayton; Mrs. Pringle and child; Miss 
Pringle and nurse ; Mrs. Murray ; Miss Murray ; Mrs. 
Britt; Miss Heald ; Mrs. Rutledge ; Miss Rutledge ; Mrs. 
H. S. Ball, nurse, child, and servant ; Mrs. Trappier ; Mrs. 
Longworth ; Mrs. Edgings and child ; Miss Mikeli ; Mrs. 
Ray and child ; Miss Clarke ; Mrs. B. F. Smith ; Mrs. N. 
Smith; Mrs. Gregory; Mrs. Davis; Mrs. Hubbard; Mrs. 
Meritt and child ; Miss Greenwood ; Mrs. PhiHips ; Mrs. 
Oriolle ; Mrs. Williamson ; Major Heath ; Major Twiggs 
and child ; Colonel Hudson ; Colonel Dunham ; Lieutenant 
Mansfield, United States' army ; Rev. E. Crofts ; Dr. Cum- 
ming ; Dr. Ash ; Dr. Stewart ; Dr. Wilkins ; Rev. Mr. 
Murray ; Rev. Mr. Woart, lady, and child ; Judge Roch- 
ester ; Judge Cameron ; Messrs. J. Goddard, J. Nathans, 
J. H. Elliot, T. A. Clark, J. Asken, M'Allister, S. B. Park- 
man, G. B. Lamar, C. Lamar, W. Lamar, T. Lamar, R. 
Hutchinson, R. Brower, S. Livermore, B. W. Fosdick, H. 
Eldridge, C. Ward, G. Huntington, J. H. Cooper, H. B. 
Nichols, jun., L. Bird, A. Lovejoy, W. W. Foster, W. A. 
Stewart, A. Hamilton, S. Miller, W. C. N. Swift, R. W. 
Pooler, R. W. Pooler, jun., A. Burns, H. N. Carter, King, 
Travers, E. P. Pringle, Rutledge, H. S. Ball, Longworth, 
F. M'Crea, T. C. Rowand, W. Edgings, R. Seabrook, J. 
Seabrook, S. Keith, G. W. Coy, O. Gregory, N. Smith, B. 
F. Smith, Davis, R. D. Walker, E. W. Innis, J. Auzee, 
Bennett, Clifton, Meritt, R. L. Greenwood, Evans, Freeman, 
T. Whalley, W. Whalley ; Captain Hubbard ; Master Mur- 
ray, and Master Parkman. 

The following persons were saved from the forecastle 



A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE. 189 

and promenade deck: — A. Lovejoy ; Major Heath; Major 
Twiggs and son ; Mr. Greenwood ; Mr. O. Gregory ; Mrs. 
N. Smith ; Miss Rebecca Lamar ; Charles Lamar ; Robert 
Seabrook ; Masters T. and W. Whalley ; Mr. R. Hutchinson ; 
Mr. A. Hamilton ; Captain Pearson ; Mr. Edgings ; Mr. C. 
Ward ; Mr. Chicken, chief engineer ; E. Joseph ; C. W. 
CUfton ; D. Walker and nephew ; Thomas Downing ; War- 
ren Freeman ; Mr. Burns ; two firemen ; two deck hands ; 
and two negro women. 

In the two yawls: — Mrs. Nightingale, servant, and child ; 
Mrs. Eraser and child ; J. H. Cooper ; R. W. Pooler and 
R. W. Pooler, jun. ; W. M. Robertson ; E. L. Barney ; Mr. 
Hibberd, the mate ; W. C. N. Swift ; Mr. Zeuchtenberg ; 
C. B. Tappan ; G. West ; B. Brown. 

In the other boat : — G. B. Lamar ; Captain Hubbard ; 
Mr. Eldridge, and three others. 



The following grateful acknowledgment, for the great 
kindness and affectionate conduct of the people, in the 
vicinity of the disaster, was responded to by every survivor 
of the ill-fated Pulaski : — 

" To Captain Davis ^ of the Schooner ' Henry Camerdon,^ of 
Philadelphia, — to the Citizens, Physicians, and Author- 
ities, of Wilmington, — to the Presidents and Directors 
of the Raleigh and Wilmington Railroad Company, — 
to the Hotel-keepers there, and on the route to Portsmouth, 
Va., and Stage-owners, on the same route, — also, to Cay- 
tain Sutton, of the Steamboat 'Alabama.'' 

" The undersigned, in behalf of himself and other pas- 
sengers of the ill-fated ' Pulaski,' fortunately rescued from 
a watery grave, take the earliest occasion, after returning 
home, and recovering from the effects of their suffering and 
exposure, to present their most grateful thanks, and shall 
ever regard them as friends of humanity, whose kindness 
and sympathy assuaged and relieved the undersigned, after 
the perils and horrors of a dreadful shipwreck, and who 
provided for them all the comforts which charity and affec- 
tion could dictate. 



190 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PULASKI. 

" Some of the sufferers, cast houseless on the inhospitable 
shore, without food or water, and almost without raiment, 
to cover their sun-burnt and lacerated forms, soon found 
these kind friends, among strangers, ministering to their 
wants with untiring benevolence. And if, in this world, 
the reward of good deeds is sometimes postponed, most 
surely will it crown the future destiny of those true Chris- 
tians, who literally clothed the naked, fed the hungry, and 
bound up the wounds of the afflicted. And to this highest 
of all rewards the undersigned leave their benefactors, with 
the utterance of the warmest thanks which gratitude can 
utter, or benevolence receive. 

" To Captain Henry Davis, however, of the schooner 
* Henry Camerdon,' they feel constrained to acknowledge 
a high and imperishable debt of gratitude. His arm, under 
Heaven, saved them, — after a prolonged and unutterably 
terrible scene of suffering, — at a moment when despair was 
fastening upon every heart ; and physical strength was sink- 
ing under the cravings of hunger and thirst. The stormy 
ocean, upon which they had floated for nearly five days and 
nights, in momentary fear of death, still rolling around and 
over them in its fury, — and followed by the insatiate mon- 
sters of the deep, ready to devour them, — at this awful 
hour, did this humane man come to their rescue, at consid- 
erable risk to his crew and vessel. To him, then, we offer 
our deepest and warmest gratitude and praise, and feel 
assured that his own approving conscience, and a more 
approving God, will here and hereafter reward him for his 
noble deed, the simple record of which will ever speak his 
high and deserved eulogium. 

*'To all, finally, who aided and befriended the under- 
signed, in the extremity of their misfortunes, they offer the 
feelings of hearts, which the tongue cannot express, and, 
without stopping particularly to name each benefactor, beg 
that one and all will receive this as the sincere return of 
thanks from rescued, and now grateful, fellow-beings. 
"JAMES P. HEATH, 

" For himself and others J^ 




THE BURNING 

OF THE 

SHIP SIR WALTER SCOTT, 

Which was struck by Lightning, 

May, 1835. 

HE ship Sir Walter Scott, Captain Clarke, 
sailed from New Orleans, for Liverpool, 
on the 21st of May, 1835, with a cargo 
of 1794 bales of cotton, eighteen sea- 
men, and three passengers ; one of them 
a lady, Mrs. Hamilton. On the morn- 
ing of the 21st of June, about eight 
o'clock, in lat. 31° 24^ long. 75^ 43^ when under double- 
reefed topsails, and bearing upon the wind, opposite, or 
nearly so, to Charleston, S. C, a heavy peal of thunder 
broke over the ship. The captain and his three passengers 
were in their cabins. The lady started up in fright, and 
the captain jumped on deck in so much haste as to be 
without his shoes. The electric fluid struck the foremast, 
entered the forecastle, where the seamen were at breakfast, 
dashed every thing in pieces, sent the men sprawling in 
every direction, and completely raked the vessel fore and 
aft, and between decks, and in the hold. In a few minutes 
the cry of " Fire 1" was raised, and aroused the seamen, who 
were almost struck senseless by the electric shock, to a new 
sense of danger. The passengers almost lost their senses, 
and Mrs. Hamilton was the only one whose courage rose to 
meet the danger with promptitude and energy. " The 
long-boat! the long-boat!" was shouted. It was now six or 
eight minutes since the lightning had struck the ship, and 
every part of the cargo, fore and aft, was already on fire. 
The long-boat was full of various articles, and could not be 
got out at the moment. 

The captain seized a cutlass and a pistol. " Men," said 
he, "you never yet deserted me in danger; rouse your- 



192 A SHIP STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. 

selves now ; I'll shoot the first man that does not at once 
do his duty. Clear out the long-boat ; down with the gig ; 
stir, stir, stir, or in ten minutes we shall see eternity." 
The men, headed by the mate, cleared out the long-boat, 
launched the gig, and then swung down the boat into the 
boiling ocean below. "Put the lady in the long-boat," 
shouted the captain. The ship was at this moment rolling 
tremendously, the flames bursting forth in all directions, 
her masts tottering to the gale. The lady reached the boat 
in safety. The disabled seamen were placed near her ; 
six others put in the gig. The captain and his mate were 
the last to leave the deck of the burning ship. All were 
now in the boats. "Cut adrift! cast off!" shouted the 
captain. They cut adrift from the burning ship, and 
pushed out of her wake. " All is lost," said the captain ; 
" but our lives are yet left us : we have another chance to 
live out the gale." The moment the long-boat and the 
gig left the burning vessel, her masts fell by the board, 
the flames burst forth in greater magnificence than ever, 
the thunder rolled, the lightning still flashed, the sea was 
roaring around, and the two small boats floated over the 
billows before the wind, and entirely at its mercy. 

At last, in about fifty minutes from the first stroke, one 
long sheet of flame covered the wreck, and the Sir Walter 
Scott sank. 

The captain, crew, and passengers, now sailed for the 
coast. They had few provisions, and their prospect was 
gloomy enough. The two boats kept each other's company 
all that day and the succeeding night. It was still blowing 
hard. At the peep of dawn, next day, the captain espied a 
sail to the leeward. It was immediately determined to send 
the gig to the vessel in sight, and endeavor to get aboard, 
if possible. Accordingly, a sail was rigged out of an old 
sack, a mast was raised, and this sail was spread before the 
wind. "Mate," said the captain, "you must go alone to 
that vessel, and get on board the best way you can." 
"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate. In a short time the gig 
reached her destination. The vessel proved to be the 
Saladin. She backed her yards. In another brief space 
the long-boat neared her, and all were taken on board in 
safety. 



THE FAMINE 



ON BOARD OF THE 



SHIP FRANCES MARY, 




Which foundered in the Atlantic Ocean, 

February, 1826. 

N the nautical language of the unfortu- 
nate survivors, we give the account of 
the sufferings and horrid proceedings 
which took place on board of the ship 
Frances Mary, Captain Kendal, bound 
from New Brunswick to Liverpool, 
laden with timber. 

''Sailed from St. Johns, Jan. 18. — 
Feb. 1, strong gales from the W. N. W. carried away the 
maintopmast and mizzenmast-head ; hove too; got boat's 
sails in the main rigging, to keep the ship to the wind. At 
11, P. M., shipped a heavy sea, which washed away the 
caboose and jolly-boat, and disabled five men. Feb. 2, 
cleared tiway the wreck, and made sail before the wind ; 
strong breezes. Feb. 5, 11, A M., strong gales, with a 
heavy sea ; clewed the sails up and hove too, head to the 
southward; shipped a sea, which carried away the long- 
boat, companion, tiller, unshipped the rudder, the best 
bower chain cable, and washed a man overboard, who was 
afterwards saved. Soon after, another sea struck us, which 
stove our stern in. Cut away our foremast, and both bower 
anchors, to keep the ship to the wind ; employed in getting 
what provisions we could ; by knocking the bow-port out, 
saved fifty pounds of bread, and five pounds of cheese, 
which we stowed in the main-top ; got the captain's wife 
and female passenger up. Whilst we were clearing away 
below, lightening the ship, most of the people slept in the 
top. At daylight, found Patrick Cooney hanging by his 
17 



194 FAMINE ON BOARD OF A FOUNDERED SHIP. 

legs to the cat-harpings, dead from fatigue ; committed his 
body to the deep. Feb. 6, at 8, A. M., saw a strange sail 
standing towards us ; made a signal of distress ; stranger 
spoke us, and remained in company twenty-four hours, but 
received no assistance, the American making an excuse that 
the sea was running too high ; made a tent of spare can- 
vass on the forecastle, put the people on a short allowance 
of a quarter of a biscuit a day. Feb. 8, saw a brig to 
leeward; strong gales. Feb. 9, at 10, A. M., observed 
the same vessel to windward ; made the signal of distress ; 
stranger bore up and showed American colors. Feb. 1,0, 
he spoke to us, asking how long we had been in that situ- 
ation, and what we intended to do; if we intended leaving 
the ship ; answered, ' Yes ; ' he then asked if we had any 
rigging ; answered, ' Yes.' Night coming on, and blowing 
hard, saw no more of the stranger. 

^'Suffered much from hunger and thirst. On Feb. 11, 
saw a large ship to the northward ; did not speak her ; wore 
head to the northward. At this time all our provisions were 
out ; suffered much from hunger, having received no nour- 
ishment for nine days! Feb. 21, departed this life James 
Clark, seaman ; read prayers, and committed his body to the 
deep. We were at this time on half a gill of water a day, 
and suffering terribly from hunger ; during the whole period 
we were on the wreck, we were wet from top to toe. Feb. 
22, John Wilson, seaman, died at 10, A. M. ; preserved 
the body of the deceased, cut him up in quarters, washed 
them overboard, and hung them up on pins. Feb. 23, J. 
Moore died, and was thrown overboard, having eaten part 
of him, such as the liver and heart. From this date to Sat- 
urday the 5th of March, the following persons perished from 
hunger — Henry Davis, a Welsh boy ; Alexander Kelly, sea- 
man ; John Jones, apprentice boy, nephew of the owner ; 
James Frier, cook ; Daniel Jones, seaman ; John Hutchin- 
son, seaman, and John Jones, a boy ; threw the last named 
overboard, his blood being bitter; also, James Frier, who was 
working his passage home, under a promise of marriage to 
Ann Saunders, the female passenger, who attended on the 
captain's wife, and who, when she heard of Frier's death, 
shrieked a loud yell, then snatching a cup from Clark, the 
mate, cut her late intended husband's throat, and drank his 



HORRIBLE FOOD. 195 

blood, insisting that she had the greatest right to it; a 
scuffle ensued, and the heroine got the better of her ad- 
versary, and then allgwed him to drink one cup to her 
two. 

" On Feb. 26, an Enghsh brig hove in sight ; hoisted the 
ensign downward ; stranger hauled his wind toward us, and 
hauled his foresail up ; when abreast of us, kept his course 
about one mile distant, and set his foresail ; we soon lost 
sight of him ; fresh breeze, with a little rain, the sea quite 
smooth ; but he went off, having shown EngUsh colors ; had 
he, at this time, taken us off the wreck, much of the sub- 
sequent dreadful suffering would have been spared us. 

" On March 7, his majesty's ship Blonde came in sight, 
and to our relief, in lat. 44° 43' N., long. 21° bl' W.— 
Words are quite inadequate to express our feehngs, as well 
as those which Lord Byron, her commander, and our de- 
liverer, most evidently possessed, when he found he had 
come to rescue six of their fellow-creatures, two of them 
females, from a most awful and lingering death. It came 
on to blow, during the night, a fresh gale, which would, no 
doubt, have swept us all overboard. Lieutenant Gambier 
came in the ship's cutter to bring us from the wreck. He 
observed to us, ' You have yet, I perceive, fresh meat ; ' to 
which we were compelled to reply, ' No, sir; it is part of a 
man, one of our unfortunate crew ; it was our intention to 
put ourselves on an allowance, even of this food, this even- 
ing, had not you come to our relief.' The master's wife, 
who underwent all the most horrid sufferino^s which can be 
imagined, bore them much better than could have been pos- 
sibly expected. She is, though greatly emaciated, a respect- 
able, good-looking woman, about twenty-five years of age, 
and the mother of a boy seven years of age. 

" What must have been the extremity of want to which 
she was driven, when she ate the brains of one of the ap- 
prentices, saying it was the most delicious thing she ever 
tasted! It is melancholy to add, that the person, whose 
brains she thus was forced by hunger to eat, had been three 
times wrecked before ; and, in one instance, he was provi- 
dentially picked up by a vessel, after being two-and-twenty 
days on the wreck, water-logged. In the present instance 
he perished, having survived similar sufferings for a space of 



196 



FAMINE ON BOARD OF A FOUNDERED SHIP. 



twenty-nine days, and then became food for his remaining 
shipmates ! Miss Ann Saunders, the other female, had more 
strength and fortitude, in her calamity, than most of the 
men. She performed the duty of cutting up and cleaning 
the dead bodies, keeping two knives in her monkey-jacket. 
When the death of any of the company was announced, she 
would sharpen her knives, bleed the deceased in the neck, 
drink his blood, and cut him up. From want of water, those 
who perished drank their own urine and salt water ; they be- 
came foolish, crawling upon their hands round the deck, and 
died, generally, raving mad." 




THE HEROISM 

OF 

A STEAMBOAT ENGINEER, 

DURING A GALE ON LAKE ERIE, 
November, 1838, 

AMONG the perilous scenes of the heavy gale on Lake 
Erie, in November, 1838, which caused such wide-spread 
disaster to the lake shipping, one has come to our knowl- 
edge, equalling, in interest, the most highly-wrought tale of 
fiction. In that fearful night, the steamboat Constitution, 
of Buffalo, Captain Appleby, was out amidst the terrors of 
the gale. By the glimpses caught at intervals, when the 
fitful storm for a moment broke away, the anxious and 
watchful commander was made aware of the critical situ- 
ation of his boat, which was rapidly drifting in — under the 
hurricane power of the gale, which blew almost directly 
across the lake — ^ toward a dangerous reef, from which escape 
would have been impossible. He went directly to the en- 
gineer, and ordered on '' more steam." The reply of the 
engineer was, that there was already as much on as the 
boilers would safely bear. 

Again did the captain seek the deck, to see if his labor- 
ing boat was making headway, and again returned to the 
engine-room. He explained to the engineer their hazardous 
situation, and told him that all hope was lost if no more 
headway could be gained, but left the engineer to act his 
discretion in the crisis. A moment of reflection, and his 
decision was made. Life or death hung on the issue. Cer- 
tain destruction awaited the boat and her devoted crew, in 
a few brief minutes, if she did not gain upon the storm. 
This might be averted if the boilers — already crowded to 
a fearful pressure — could yet bear a heavier strain ; and 
that he determined to try. True, the awful horrors of an 
17 * 



198 THE HEROISM OF A STEAMBOAT ENGINEER. 

explosion were vividly before his eyes ; the mangled limbs, 
the scorched and lifeless bodies, the death shrieks, and the 
groans of the hapless victims, were before him and in his 
ear: the alternative was a fearful one, yet it must be re- 
sorted to. 

He coolly directed the heads of two barrels of oil to be 
broken in, and the furnaces were rapidly fed with wood 
dipped in the highly-inflammable liquid, while two men, 
with ladles, dashed the oil into the flames. The intense 
heat, which these combustibles created, generated steam 
with the rapidity of lightning, and soon the resistless vapor 
forced up the safety-valve, and issued forth with tremendous 
violence ; its sharp hiss was heard above the wild uproar of 
the waters and the storm. With a desperate and determined 
courage, which equalled the most daring heroism that the 
page of history has ever recorded, the engineer sat down 
upon the lever of the safety-valve, to confine and raise the 
steam to the necessary power required to propel the boat 
against the drifting waves ! In this awful situation, he 
calmly remained until the prodigious efforts of the engine 
had forced the Constitution sufficiently off" shore to be be- 
yond the threatened danger. 

This intrepid act was not a rash and vainglorious attempt 
to gain the applause of a multitude by a foolhardy exposure 
of life in some racing excursion ; it was not the deed of a 
drunken and reckless man, wickedly heedless of the safety 
of those whose lives were perilled ; but it was the self-pos- 
sessed and determined courage of one whose firmness is 
worthy of all admiration. 




THE 



HISTORY OF BAMBOROUGH CASTLE, 

ON THE 

NORTH-EASTERN COAST OF ENGLAND 5 

WITH THE 

HEROISM OF GRACE DARLING, 

OF THE 

LONGSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, 



Kesciiing the Shipwrecked Company of the Forfar- 
shire Steam-Packet, September, 1838. 



N an eminence on the sea-coast, about 
four miles from Belford, in Northum- 
berland, is the very ancient castle of 
Bamborough, founded by Ida, first king 
of the Northumbrians, A. D. 548. — 
Penda, the Mercian, attempted to burn 
it, in 672, by setting fire to piles of 
wood laid against its walls ; but the wind blowing contrary, 
the flames caught his own camp, and he was obliged to 
raise the siege. It was destroyed by the Danes in 993 ; but 
about the time of the conquest it was again in good repair. 
Some time afterwards the castle lost the greatest part of its 
beauty during a siege. 

In the reign of Ehzabeth it was held by Sir John Forster, 
as governor ; and his grandson obtained a grant of it, and 
the manor, from James the First. His descendant forfeited 
it in 1715; but this person's maternal uncle. Lord Crew, 
bishop of Durham, purchased the estate ; and in 1720 be- 




SOO AN ACCOUNT OF BAMBOROUGH CASTLE. 

queathed the castle and adjoining manor for charitable pur- 
poses. Under his will, it is in the hands of five clergymen, 
as trustees, who reside here in turn at their own expense. 
Arclideacon Sharpe, about the year 1757, began the re- 
pairs of the castle, on which he expended large sums out 
of his own purse. Since his time much more has been 
done, and various parts of this venerable fortress reclaimed 
from ruin. 

Bamborough Castle is a most imposing and magnificent- 
looking pile. It stands upon a basalt rock, of triangular 
shape, high, rugged, and abrupt, on the land side ; flanked 
by the sea, and strong natural ramparts of sand, matted 
together with sea-rushes, on the east ; and accessible to an 
enemy only on the south-east, which is guarded by a deep, 
dry ditch, and a series of towers, in the wall, on each side 
of the gateway. As this rock is the only one on this part 
of the coast, the site of the fortress is still more conspicu- 
ous. It rises about one hundred and fifty feet above the 
level of the sea, and rests upon a stratum of mouldering 
stone, apparently scorched with violent heat, and having 
beneath it a close, flinty sandstone. The surface of the 
rock is beautifully besprinkled with lichens of various rich 
tints. The walls and towers, by which it is crowned, have 
been repaired on the land side ; but those on the sea side 
are still ruinous. The outer gateway stands between two 
fine old towers, with time-worn heads. The inner gateway, 
twelve paces from the outer, has a portcullis : within this, to 
the left, on a lofty point of rock, there is a very ancient 
round tower, of great strength, commanding a pass, subject 
to every kind of annoyance to the besieged. The keep 
stands upon the area of the rock, having an open space 
around. It had no chimney, but the fires were made in 
the middle of a large room, the floor of which was of 
stone, supported by arches ; and the light was admitted by 
a window near its top, three feet square. All the other 
rooms were lighted by loop-holes. Within the keep is a 
draw well of good water, one hundred and forty-five feet 
deep, cut through the solid rock. This well was discovered 
in 1770, when the cellar was cleared of sand and rubbish. 
The remains of the chapel were also found. The chancel 
is separated from the nave; and, after the Saxon manner, 



GRACE DARLING S EARLY IMPRESSIONS. 



201 



semicircular at the east end. The ancient font was also 
found. 

The venerable pile is devoted to purposes of the most 
extensive and practical benevolence. A large school-room 
is fitted up for educating the boys of the neighborhood, free 
of expense ; and another for the girls. In this school Grace 




A View of Bamborough Castle.* 

Darling received her education ; and the scenes which occa- 
sionally took place at the castle, during storms, were well 
calculated to arouse the mind of a child — the signal guns 
of distress, which, on those occasions, thundered from 
the lofty battlements, and shook the massive walls of the 
school-room ; the rapid arrival of the neighboring inhab- 

This is a correct view of the Castle, drawn from .nature, by that cele- 
brated artist, the late William Daniel, Esq., Pt. A. 



202 AN ACCOUNT OF BAMBOROUGH CASTLE. 

itaiits for the life-boat and apparatus for communicating 
with wrecked vessels; their departure for the place of 
distress, and return with the shivering and half-naked sur- 
vivor, or the lifeless form of the drowned mariner. Amid 
these scenes the youthful mind of Grace imbibed those com- 
passionate and heroic feelings, which afterwards prompted 
her to peril her own life in rescuing those of the unfortunate 
survivors of the Forfarshire. 

Her predilection for learning was truly exemplary ; and — ■ 
as the Feme Islands are situated but a short distance seaward 
from the castle — from the age of about twelve years, it was 
her usual practice to go to school alone, from the Longstone 
lighthouse; and she thus acquired great skill in the manage- 
ment of a boat. 

But to return to the charities of the castle. A suite of 
rooms are allotted to two mistresses and twenty poor girls ; 
who, from their ninth year, are lodged, clothed, and edu- 
cated, until they are fit to go to service. Here, too, is a 
granary of corn and meal; also, a market for provisions 
and groceries, which are sold to the poor, at prime cost, 
on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

Other apartments are fitted up for the reception of ship- 
wrecked sailors ; and bedding is provided for thirty, should 
such a number happen to be cast on shore at the same 
time. The castle serves, also, as a signal-house, to warn 
vessels, in hazy and stormy weather, from the rocks of the 
Feme Islands, situated off the base of the cliff. A life-boat 
and implements of all kinds, for succoring vessels in dis- 
tress, are kept here ; and means are employed for prevent- 
ing wrecks from being plundered, and for restoring them to 
their owners. A constant patrol is kept, every stormy night, 
along this tempestuous coast for above eight miles, — the 
length of the manor, — by which means a number of lives 
have been preserved. Many poor wretches are often found 
on the shore in a state of insensibility ; but by timely relief 
their lives are preserved. 

That all seamen may be informed of the circumstances 
of this charity, a printed account is published, under direc- 
tion of the Trinity-house, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, contain- 
ing ample directions for signals, both on shore and at sea ; 
a statement of the assistance, stores, and provisions, pre- 



LEAK IN THE BOILER. 203 

pared for shipwrecked mariners ; and rewards specified for 
those most active in giving notice of vessels in distress, or 
assisting their crews. 

The Loss of the Forfarshire. 

The Forfarshire was a beautiful steam-packet, nearly 
new, and had on board a valuable cargo, and upwards of 
forty passengers ; and a crew of twenty-one persons. She 
sailed between Dundee and Hull, which latter place she left 
on the evening of Wednesday, September 5th, 1838, and 
had proceeded as far as Bamborough, when a leak was dis- 
covered in the boiler, and it was reported that the pumps 
were no longer able to supply the boiler with water. On 
Thursday morning both deck-pumps were employed without 
effect : and two of the furnaces were extinguished, for fear 
of injuring the boiler. The boiler was partially repaired, 
when the furnaces were rekindled ; the vessel being still 
under way, and having both deck and engine-pumps at work. 
At eight o'clock, the wind began to blow strong from the 
north-north-east, and the leak in the boiler had increased to 
such a degree that the deck-pumps were unable to keep the 
vessel clear of the boiling water, which leaked from the boiler 
as fast as it could be pumped in, and the firemen could not 
keep the fire burning. 

About one o'clock, A, M., on Friday, the engineer re- 
ported that the engine would not work. The sails were 
then set, fore and aft, with a view to keep her off the land. 
The rain was falling heavily at the time, and the gale con- 
tinuing with great violence. Captain Humble was unremit- 
ting in his endeavors to preserve the vessel and the lives of 
the passengers ; unfortunately, the fog was so dense at the 
time, that they were unable to perceive the lights until they 
were very near them. 

Meanwhile, the vessel was drifting to leeward, and an 
attempt was made to push her between the Feme Islands, 
but she refused to answer her helm ; and at three o'clock, 
A. M., she struck upon what is called the " Longstone, or 
Outer Feme Island," and little chance of escape was left for 
the unfortunate individuals — forty in number — who were 
on board. The second sea that struck the vessel, after she 



204 THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING. 

went on the rock, swept all away abaft the foremast, — hur 
rying into another world the captain, and nearly all of his 
ill-fated companions. The captain and his wife perished in 
each other's arms. 

In the mean time, the flag at Bamborough Castle was 
hoisted half mast, as a signal of distress ; and alarm guns 
fired along the coast to arouse the fishermen, in order to 
man the life-boat. But the life-boat could not possibly get 
near the rocks to render any effective assistance to the suf- 
ferers ; but every thing was done that human ingenuity or 
enterprise could suggest. One of the survivors, Mr. Dono- 
van, had his leg greatly maimed ; and he lay for three hours 
holding by a spike nail. The vessel was a total wreck in 
less than a quarter of an hour after she struck. Several 
others suffered severely from the cold and heavy seas, having 
all their clothes torn in pieces. They were despairing of 
deliverance, and were looking about to provide for their se- 
curity during the following night. But the most agonizing 
spectacle was that of Mrs. Dawson and her two children, a 
boy and a girl, five and seven years of age, firmly grasped 
in each hand ; there she held them, in the agonies of despair, 
long after the buffetings of the waves, which drove them to 
and fro, had deprived them of existence. 

Mr. Ritchie, one of the cabin passengers, retired to his 
berth. About three o'clock, on Friday morning, he felt the 
vessel strike ; he leaped from his bed, rushed on deck, but, 
ere he had accomplished so much, she struck the second 
time, and almost immediately went in two pieces. On 
reaching the deck, he perceived that part of the crew — 
eight in number — had taken to the boat ; and as they had 
not left the side of the vessel, he was fortunate in lowering 
himself into it. The agitation of the sea immediately 
separated the boat from the vessel ; and he had the agony 
of beholding his uncle and aunt reach the deck ; and, on 
recognizing him in the boat, they attempted to leap into it, 
but failed, and perished before his eyes. The boat being 
entirely at the mercy of the sea, it was carried rapidly be- 
yond the wreck ; but before the crew lost sight of the wreck, 
they saw the other boat of the vessel swamp. " The boat 
itself escaped by something little short of a miracle. There 
was but one outlet by which it could avoid being dashed in 



THE VESSEL BREAKS IN TWO. 



205 



pieces on the breakers by which it was surrounded. This 
outlet it fortunately took without its crew being aware of 
it ; and after being exposed to the storm all night, it was 
picked up by a sloop and carried into Shields. 

'' In less than five minutes after the vessel struck, a second 
shock separated her into two parts ; the stern, quarter-deck, 
and cabin, being instantly borne away, — through a passage 
called the Piper Gut, — by a tremendous current, which runs 
with considerable violence even in temperate weather, with 
a rapidity of about six miles an hour, but which, when the 
weather is tempestuous, flows with a force truly terrific. 

" The fore-part of the vessel, in the mean time, remained 




Grace Darling and her Father proceeding to the Forfarshire. 

fast on the rock, and to it still clung the kw passengers who 
remained, every instant expecting to share the fate of their 
unfortunate companions, whom they had seen swept away 
by the raging element. In this dreadful situation, their cries 
attracted the notice of Grace Darling, the daughter of the 
keeper of the Outer Feme lighthouse. With a noble hero- 
ism, she immediately determined to attempt their rescue, in 
18 



206 THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING. 

spite of the raging of the storm, and the all but certain de- 
struction which threatened to attend it. 

*' Having hastily awakened her father, he launched his 
boat at daybreak, and with a generous sympathy, worthy 
of the father of Grace Darling, prepared to proceed to their 
rescue. The gale, in the mean time, continued unabated, 
and the boiling of the waves threatened a speedy destruction 
to their frail boat. It was, therefore, with a heart full of the 
most fearful forebodings, that he undertook the perilous en- 
terprise. After watching the wreck for some time, they dis- 
covered that living beings were still clinging to it ; and the 
gallant young woman, with matchless intrepidity, seized an 
oar and entered the boat." 

Those unacquainted with the tempestuous state of the 
Feme Islands, during a storm, will be unable to appreciate 
the praiseworthy deed of daring performed by Mr. Darling 
and his daughter, Miss Grace Horsely Darling. By a dan- 
gerous and desperate effort, her father was landed on the 
rock in the frail coble. To preserve it from being dashed in 
pieces^ it was rapidly rowed back among the awful abyss of 
waters, and kept afloat by the skilfulness and dexterity of 
this noble-minded young woman. They succeeded in saving 
the lives of the nine persons ; and, by the assistance of some 
of the crew, they were enabled to bring the coble and its 
burden to the Longstone lighthouse ; otherwise return and 
aid would have been impracticable, from the state of the 
current. This perilous achievement stands unexampled in 
the feats of female fortitude. From her isolated abode, 
where there was no solicitation or prospect of reward to 
stimulate, impelled alone by tlie pure promptings of hu- 
manity, she made her way through desolation, and impend- 
ing destruction, appalling to the stoutest hearts, to save the 
lives of her fellow-beings. One of the old seamen was 
moved to tears, when he saw a young female, of slender 
appearance, perilling her life for their preservation. Mr. 
Darling has lived long upon the island. By his watchful- 
ness and care, he has, in numberless instances, prevented 
the destruction of life and property, and has himself saved 
many lives, when precautionary measures were no longer 
available. Of all the vessel's company, only eighteen sur- 



MRS. DAWSON AND HER CHILDREN. 207 

vived ; nine were saved in the boat, and nine rescued by 
Grace Darling and her father. 

The fame of Grace DarHng soon extended to the sur- 
rounding country ; and, in a few days after the catastrophe, 
an intelHgent gentleman of Berwick visited the locality of 
the wreck, from whom we have the following particu- 
lars : — 

" We have this week paid a visit to the wreck, which is 
lying in much the same state that it was, only somewhat 
more gutted by the occasional dashing of the billows amongst 
its timber and planks. Upon this occasion, owing to the 
low tide, the extent of the rock was much more conspicu- 
ous than before. The starboard side of the ill-fated vessel 
lies chock up against a sort of shelf of the rock, the deck 
slightly inclining. When she went in two here, the sea, of 
course, instantly rushed into her engine-room, which was 
then exposed, at the end where the breach had taken place, 
to all the fury of the raging billows. The fore-cabin, situ- 
ated beyond the engine-room, was soon laid open, also, and 
gutted of all its furniture and fittings. Here it was that the 
poor woman, Mrs. Dawson, and her two children, were sur- 
rounded by the merciless element. They were lying on the 
floor, it is believed, the anxious mother clasping a child in 
each arm, when the billows broke through the frail partition 
that now alone sheltered them from their fury ; fiercely 
struck them ever and anon with its briny surge, and at 
length destroyed first one and then the other of the chil- 
dren in the arms of their agonized parent, whom it had 
nearly consigned to a similar fate. One of the bodies of 
the children, it will be remembered, was washed out of its 
mother's arms, and found among the floating wreck ; the 
other she still retained in her grasp until taken up to a place 
of comparative safety upon a rock. 

" The most striking object in the wreck is the mass of 
machinery. Cylinders, pistons, tubes, pumps, — the whole 
engine, in short, ' with all appliances and means to boot,' — 
there lies, 

* One glorious chaos and wild heap.' 

*' The machinery bears every mark of having been of first- 
rate manufacture, and the fallen pillars and arches seem to 



208 THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING. 

remind one of the prostrate ruins of some Grecian temple. 
Another object of attraction was the figure-head, — a full 
length, sylph-hke female figure, gilded, — which, with waving 
hand and a smiling mien, yet stood gayly erect amid the 
scene of ruin and desolation. It was twilight when we took 
a last look of the airy and shining form, perched aloft, waving 
her outstretched hand over the wreck below, and the effect 
was extremely imposing." 

Visit to the Longstone Lighthouse. 

" It was a beautiful sunset when we were at the wreck. 
The last gleams of golden tint had faded away, and night 
was gradually closing in upon us, when we quitted the rock. 
We could not find in our hearts to quit the spot, late though 
it was, without visiting, were it only for a few minutes, the 
Longstone lighthouse, to pay our respects to the Darlings, 
whose humane and gallant conduct in putting oflf to the res- 
cue of the survivors on the wreck, at the imminent peril of 
their lives, has already been described. Old Darling was 
waiting off in his boat, to take the carpenter to his island. 
We all went together, and as we approached the lighthouse, 
the heroine, Grace Darling herself, was descried high aloft, 
lighting the lamps, whose revolving illumination has warned 
so many an anxious mariner of the rocks and shoals around. 
At the side where we alighted, a bold cliff is to be ascended 
ere you reach the lighthouse. Having gained its summit, we 
were soon at the door of the hospitable tower, and received 
a hearty welcome from old Mrs. Darling and her dauntless 
daughter. But Grace is nothing mascuhne in her appear- 
ance, although she has so stout a heart. In person she is 
about the middle size, of a comely countenance, rather fair 
for an islander, and with an expression of benevolence and 
softness most truly feminine, in every point of view. When 
we spoke of her noble and heroic conduct, she slightly 
blushed, and appeared anxious to avoid the notice to which 
it exposed her : she smiled at our praise, but said nothing in 
reply, though her look, the while, indicated forcibly that the 
consciousness of having done so good and generous an 
action, had not failed to excite a thrill of pleasure in her 
bosom, which was itself no mean reward. 



GRACE RELINQUISHES HER BED TO MRS. DAWSON. 209 

' Her conscious heart of charity was warm.' 

" When the nine wretched survivors were taken off the 
wreck by old Darhng and his heroic daughter, they were 
conveyed at once to the hghthouse, which was, in fact, 
their only refuge at this time ; and, owing to the violent 
seas that continued to prevail among the islands, they were 
obliged to remain there from Friday morning till Sunday. 
The boat's crew that came off to their assistance, from North 
Sunderland, were also obliged to remain. This made a 
party of nearly twenty persons, at the lighthouse, in addi- 
tion to its usual inmates ; and such an unprepared-for ac- 
cession could not fail to occasion considerable inconveni- 
ence. But the Darlings have too much of the milk of 
human kindness about them to be easily put out of their 
way under any such circumstances. Grace, characteristi- 
cally enough, gave up her bed to poor Mrs. Dawson, whose 
sufferings at this time, both mental and bodily, were intense, 
and contented herself with lying down on a table." 

GRACE DARLING. 

The only impulse which could have actuated Grace Dar- 
ling to the heroic conduct she displayed, was that feeling of 
pity, which is natural to a mind whose generosity and phi- 
lanthropy are universal in their application to suffering, in 
whomsoever felt, or in whatever shape it presented itself. 
Neither can it be said that her conduct was instigated by 
selfish ambition, or the thirst of applause ; for on that lonely 
island no eye beheld the deed save that of Him who sees 
amidst the darkness of the tempest as amidst the light of 
the noon-day sun. Her only incitement could have been 
those feelings which the poet describes as universally char- 
acteristic of her sex : — • 

" Hers is warm pity's sacred glow ; 

From all her stores she bears a part, 
And bids the stream of hope reflow, 
That languished in the fainting heart." 

The situation of Grace Darling is a peculiar one for a 
young female ; and one which we suspect very few of her 

18* 



210 THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING. 

sex would envy. Living on a lonely spot in the middle of 
the ocean, amidst the wildest war of the elements, with 
the horrors of the tempest familiarized to her mind, and her 
constant lullaby the sound of the everlasting deep, and the 
shriek of the wild sea-gull ; her only prospect that of the 
wide-spreading ocean, with the distant sail on the horizon, — 
she is thus removed far from the active scenes of life, and 
debarred, save at distant intervals, from any communication 
with her own sex, and from all those innocent enjoyments 
of society and companionship which, as a female, must be 
so dear to her. And these are circumstances which go a 
long way to enhance the admiration due to her generosity 
and heroism ; for it is well known that the natural effect of 
solitude and seclusion is, to deaden all the kindlier feelings 
of human nature ; and of solitude amongst the most awful 
scenes of tempest and gloom, to imbue the breast with a 
portion of their own savage character. And yet, amidst all 
these adverse circumstances, do we find her evincing a depth 
of feeling, and a nobleness of soul, which we might look for 
in vain amongst many of those of either sex who are pam- 
pered in the lap of luxury, and surrounded with every 
blessing which wealth, ease, and unrestrained freedom, 
can bestow. 

To conclude, the fame of this heroic achievement has 
spread far and wide ; and presents of great value have been 
showered upon her. Eminent poets, dramatists, and paint- 
ers, have vied with each other in extending her renown. 
And the name of Grace Darling is destined to live in story, 
long after the ponderous blocks of granite, which compose 
the Longstone lighthouse, have crumbled from their founda- 
tion, and been ground into sand by the attrition of the sur- 
rounding ocean. 




A DIARY 



WRECK OF E B. 1. SHIP CHALLENGER, 



WESTERN COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA: 



With an Account of the Encampment of the Officers 
and Crew, during a Period of two Months, on the 
South Coast ^f Chili ; and their subsequent Adven- 

May, 1835. 



tares on the Plains of Molguilla 




IT will be in the recollection of our naval 
readers, and, perhaps, not devoid of in- 
terest to others, to state that the Chal- 
lenger sailed from Portsmouth, England, 
on the 20th of October, 1833, with the 
consul-general of Chili, and the consul 
of Coquimbo, as passengers ; and after 
touching at Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, 
and East Falkland, arrived at Valparaiso on the 16th of 
February, 1834. 

Having visited the intermediate ports of Chili, Bolivia, 
and Peru, she sailed from Punah for the Sandwich and 
Society Islands ; and after remaining seventeen days at 
Oahu, one of the former, and eighteen days at O'Tahiti, 
of the latter group, she returned to Valparaiso on the 25th 
of October ; having, in twelve months, traversed a distance 
of 44,240 nautical miles. 

After again proceeding to the intermediate ports, she 
sailed from Coquimbo on the 5th of February, 1835, with a 
freight of money ; with which she arrived at Rio de Janeiro, 
in thirty-three days. 



212 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

On the 1st of April she again sailed from Rio de Janeiro to 
resume her station on the west coast of South America ; but 
from whence she was not destined to return. "After baffling 
and contrary winds, we were off Cape Horn on the 29th, in 
lat. 58^ 47' S., when — blowing heavily, and a sea having 
done some damage abaft — she was hove to for some hours 
under snug sail. With little intermission, it continued to 
blow a gale till the 9th of May, and the necessity of carry- 
ing sail, during the period, proved, to the admiration of 
all on board, the properties of the Challenger in bad 
weather. 

*' On the 17th, the weather becoming fine, we got up the 
top-gallantmasts, crossed top-gallant-yards, and made sail; 
course N. 39^ E., lat. obs. 41° 41' S., long., by chronome- 
ter, 80° 43' 30" W. 

'•On the ISth the course was N. 51° E., with fresh 
breezes ; at times squally and hazy ; no observation. The 
following day, the 19th, no observation; but good sights 
were had for the chronometers, which tended to confirm 
the ship's position on the charts ; distant from Talcahuana, 
the port we were bound to, about fifty leagues; course 
steered, N. 39° E. At 4 h. 50 m., P. M., up courses and 
hove to ; bent cables, and tried soundings in 200 fathoms ; 
no bottom. At 5 h. 20 m. filled and set courses. At 8 h. 
10 m. fresh breezes and hazy, but stars at times visible; 
braced sharp up ; the ship's head N. J E. ; 8 h. 30 m. set 
jib ; 9 h. 45 m. observed breakers on the lee bow. The helm 
w^as instantly put down. The captain flew upon deck, call- 
ing, ' All hands, about ship ! ' in his way, in time to order the 
after-yards to be hauled ; but before the head-yards were 
trimmed, a sm-f struck the ship's larboard bow ; she lifted 
to the heavy swell, got stern-way, and in four or five seconds 
struck with a dreadful crash ; her keel taking the rocks just 
before the mizzenmast. A second shock immediately fol- 
lowed, which threw heron her starboard beam ends; the 
surf, at the same time, making complete breaches over her, 
in a body sufficient to wash the men overboard ; and it ap- 
pears next to miraculous, that, with the difficulty of now 
holding on,^ and one watch only just out of their hammocks, 
no lives were lost, or greater injuries sustained, than the 
severe bruises received by two men, who were thrown 



THE MIZZENMAST CUT AWAY. 213 

over the wheel She was now rockins^ and rollinir on both 
beam ends, and the lifts being gone, the main-yard was 
swinging alternately on each side, and hanging parallel with 
the shrouds ; the mainmast, at the same time, when upright, 
repeatedly lifting a considerable height, and settling down 
again. A few short minutes had produced this awful change, 
and the critical moment at once required firmness, reflection, 
and fortitude. The silent, insidious rollers, in the still fog, 
gave no warning ; and the first that was discovered launched 
us into the breakers, which were only now first seen. In a 
few seconds they were roaring around us, and the angry 
surf, hissing past the ship's sides, by its vivid coruscations, 
illumined the gloom, and made more visible our frightful 
situation. 

'' By the cool and judicious decision of cutting away the 
mizzen, and keeping the anchors fast, the ship rolled over 
the rocks, and righted in the sand ; whereas, had she been 
checked by an anchor, all must have perished near the spot 
where she struck. 

'* The water now appearing dark within the breakers, 
another danger, in wave-like succession, seemed to follow ; 
rendering it indispensable to let go the anchors, to save the 
ship from foundering in deep water. These fears were by 
degrees quieted, by watching the hand leads ; and finding 
the ship more and more imbedded in the sand, though quick 
and shifting, and the anchors were still kept fast ; the pru- 
dence and good fortune of which step daylight fully proved. 
The steady conduct of the crew, in this extremity of danger, 
merits the greatest praise ; although every heart must have 
quailed, there was no confusion, nor the least excess commit- 
ted. If, on the contrary, under the influence of fright, any 
rash attempts had been made to quit the ship, many lives 
would have been sacrificed, since none could see or tell the 
fate of those who went before ; and such attempts must have 
proved fatal. 

" Shortly after striking, the rudder was carried away, 
the gun-room beams and cabin-deck forced up, and the 
water, coming in astern, flooded the gun-room and oflicers' 
cabins ; and the ship appeared to be evidently bilged, the 
timbers on the starboard side being heard to break with a 
fearful crash. 



214 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

*' The main deck ports had been calked in for the voy- 
age ; and, fortunately, remained so. The main and lower 
deck hatchways were battened down ; still it was necessary 
to scuttle the lower deck, from the quantity of water taken 
in over all. Owing to her drawing through the sand, the 
hand-pumps, by constantly going, kept her sufficiently free 
to admit of a considerable quantity of dry bread being got 
up and put into water casks. Yet, at this time, so slender 
vras the hope of saving scarcely any thing, or even our lives, 
that the ship's accounts, and a private packet or two, were 
put in a light cask, to be thrown overboard, on the chance 
of its reaching the shore. 

" Towards midnight some officers and men thought they 
perceived land ; and many eagerly crowded the poop to 
catch a gleam of their deliverance. Blue lights were now 
burnt, and several rockets thrown in the direction, to assist 
in discerning it ; but no certainty was arrived at till after 
the moon had risen, when, at about 2 h. 30 m., A. M., the 
sure sight of land produced emotions which only they who 
felt can tell. It was a moment to teach an impressive les- 
son to the thoughtless, the gay, and the presumptuous. The 
horrors of the preceding four hours had been surcharged 
with the torturing apprehension of lingering death ; and dark 
and desponding must be that mind which, at such a crisis, 
could not derive some solace in the hope of succor from 
Him who governs the storm, and alone has the power 
to save. 

"At daybreak the shore presented a long, flat, sandy 
beach, with a tremendous surf, extending to the south, a 
distance interminable to the eye, and in the W. N. W. 
bounded by a head-land and projection of rocks, between 
two and three miles distant. 

*' To land the crew was the first object ; and measures 
were taken accordingly. The night had been partly occu- 
pied in preparing the jolly-boat and gigs as life-boats. The 
first of these, with a mate and brave picked crew, succeeded 
in landing through the dangerous surf, taking with them the 
end of the deep sea lead-line ; but in attempting to haul on 
shore a hawser attached to it, their strength was found une- 
qual to counteract the surf; a current sweeping along shore 
from three to four knots an hour. The first gig was there- 



A SHIPWRECK PREVENTED. 215 

fere launched over the stern, to afford assistance ; but the 
heart-rending sight of her fate again damped the hopes of 
all. She broached to, was capsized and whirled over by 
the surf; when Mr. Gordon, midshipman, and John Ed- 
wards, seaman, were either carried to sea by the back set, 
or buried in the sand ; the bodies never afterwards having 
been found. The others were taken out of the water, nearly 
exhausted, more than three quarters of a mile to the south- 
ward. 

"At 6 h. 40 m. this morning, 20th, to our astonishment, 
a ship was discovered, through the haze, three or four miles 
outside the breakers, standing directly for the land. A main 
deck port was now opened ; two guns fired, and an ensign 
hoisted, union downwards, as a signal to her. She tacked 
and stood off, showing Swedish colors. She could render 
us no assistance, and little doubt can exist that we were the 
hapless beacon of her danger ; another hour's dark night 
might have placed her alongside of us. At 8, A. M., cut 
away the fore-topmast. Two rafts having been prepared 
with masts, spars, yards, mess tables, casks, &c., at eleven 
o'clock the first was hoisted over the side, with a lieutenant 
and seven men, and carrying a kedge, hawser, and hauling 
line, reached the shore with difficulty, far to the south, and 
was thrown so high upon the beach that she could not again 
this day be launched. This raft reached the beach with 
less difficulty ; but, in the attempt to make a second trip, 
the surf upset it under the stern, and one seaman, who 
jumped upon it, was a long time in great peril, whilst it 
drifted back to the shore. At 3, P. M., the cutter, with 
spars lashed to her, left the ship and landed safely, although 
nearly filled with water. The officers and men now landed 
only amounted to about fifty. All hands, from excessive 
fatigue, and drenched with water, required relaxation ; but 
to those on shore, on a desert sand, wet to the skin, and 
without refreshment, through a bitter, frosty night, much 
comfort could not come ; and their minds being under great 
anxiety as to the fate of their shipmates still on board, a 
regular watch was kept upon the beach. 

'' The captain had written a letter to his majesty^s consul 
at Conception ; of which the assistant surgeon and clerk of 
the Challenger had offered to be the bearers. To find a 



-216 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

fit person to conduct these gentlemen, in an unknown 
country, through woods, across rivers, along roads, in places 
almost impassable, was an object of great interest ; but 
w^hich the suspicious countenances of the Indians, and the 
impossibility of being understood by them, afforded little 
promise of accomplishing. 

" By a most fortunate accident, Camillio Hermosillo, a 
Spanish Chileno, holding a distant farm, happened to come 
near the place of the wreck to purchase cattle ; and this 
honest man gave the clew to all our future correspondence. 
After some negotiation, and fair promises of reward, and 
being piqued upon his Castillian blood, he undertook to be- 
come a guide, and procure the necessary horses. From this 
person we obtained the first outline of our real situation. 

" We were informed the place of our shipwreck was Mol- 
guilla, in the province of Arauco, sixty leagues south of 
Conception, and about thirty-six miles from the Island of 
Mocha ; and, by observations afterwards taken on shore 
with an artificial horizon, in lat. 37° 38' south, long. 73° 
34' west, it lies at the extreme southern verge of that 
portion of the Indian territory in which the Indians ac- 
knowledge the authority of the Chilian government ; and, 
under its influence, the Caciques had, for twelve months 
previously, been waging war with the more southern Indians. 
We also learnt that on the 20th of February last, the city of 
Conception had been totally destroyed by an earthquake ; 
since which, shocks had been continually felt on the coast, 
which we soon experienced ; particularly one on the 30th, 
during a north-west gale with rain, that caused the candles 
on the officers' tables to vibrate a foot or more. Our po- 
sition on the beach was described as untenable, and we were 
recommended to take the highest elevation the small/sand 
hills on this extensive flat afforded, to secure ourselves from 
the rising of the sea ; which in three" days rose far above the 
spot where we were now standing, and level with the base 
of the small sand hills, of scarcely eight feet elevation, on 
which we were encamped. 

" Having, at about half past four, with great satisfaction, 
despatched our party for Conception, we began to contem- 
plate our misfortunes, which, though mitigated by escape 
with life, still left us in a situation far from enviable. 



THEY ARE VISITED BY A CACIQUE. 217 

Bounded in our rear by a marsh, which the rainy season, 
now at hand, would convert into a lake ; the ocean in our 
front, rising occasionally within little more than a hundred 
yards of our camp, and which, from the effect of an earth- 
quake, slight indeed, compared to that which so recently 
occurred at Talcahuana, when the sea rose many feet, 
might have swept us away ; and the probability of a visit 
from the hostile southern Indians, who, the two preceding 
years, had plundered off every article from the unfortunate 
crews of four merchantmen wrecked upon the coast, — left 
us only the uncheering prospect of equivocal hostility from 
our northern neighbors, a barbarous race, who murder the 
adults and sell for slaves the infant children of their captured 
enemies. 

''Happily, however, the weather favored us, and by 
throwing overboard guns and other heavy articles, back- 
ing up the stream and kedge anchors with gun-slides in 
the sand, and hauling in upon our cables, by the influence 
of the surf, and great exertions at the pumps, the ship 
was raised sufficiently on the beach to admit of a stage 
being constructed from the stern, with lower yards, spars, 
&c., by which we were enabled to land provisions, arms, 
ammunition, and other stores ; and thus, for a time, rely 
upon our own resources for subsistence and defence. The 
labor attending these operations, the men constantly wet 
through, and having at the same time to pitch a camp, the 
naval reader, at least, will well comprehend. 

"On the 2Ist we had been visited by, the neighboring 
Cacique Cheequante, with a considerable retinue of Indians, 
and a Spanish interpreter ; he offered assistance against the 
southern Indians, of whom they always evinced great dread. 
Although the disinterestedness of these offers was prudently 
estimated, policy enjoined address and conciliation, to culti- 
vate their confidence and good opinion ; and the captain, 
keeping in view these considerations, accepted the services 
of a few as lookout men ; but on the 23d, their spears 
amounting to twenty-seven, — formidable enough truly, in 
appearance, being bamboo canes, with iron points, twenty- 
five feet and upwards in length, — apprehension was felt by 
the crew lest they might be augmented to hundreds, and we 
become victims to treachery. 
19 



S18 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

" This immediately reached the captain's ear, and without 
loss of time, he summoned the men in camp around him ; 
explained to them the better motives of the Indians, yet 
pointing out the propriety of observing distance with them, 
and his orders would exclude them from communication with 
our camp ; and his determination was to assume the best 
possible state of defence, and to maintain our position, in 
the event of an attack, until information might arrive from 
the consul to govern our movements ; and that, as British 
seamen, he felt confident they would show, by their obedi- 
ence and good conduct, their title to that character. 

" This short and well-timed address dissipated their mis- 
givings, and forcibly exemplified the general confidence 
which the mild exercise of authority is calculated to inspire. 
The men were satisfied, retired cheerfully to their tents, and 
their hardships and privations in camp, although extended 
to a period of seven weeks, never afterwards excited a 
murmur. 

'' The next day proved what the stimulated energies of 
British seamen can accomplish. They forgot their former 
fatigue, and, * turning to' with a good will, boats, spars, 
cordage, casks, the boats, guns, and every description of 
stores useful for defence, were carried on their shoulders, 
and laboriously dragged over the heavy sand ; and the forti- 
fied state of our camp, by digging trenches, constructing 
barriers and platforms for the boat's guns, and bringing aft 
the long guns on board, to flank our encampment, reflected 
credit on every individual sharing in this day's labor. Our 
works were afterwards improved ; and although the bravery 
of the Indians should not be despised, they would have 
bought a severe lesson by attacking us. Still, regret must 
have attended any sacrifice in such bootless warfare ; and 
we have just reason to conclude, that their knowledge 
of our prepared state constituted our security from mo- 
lestation. 

" On reaching Arauco, our officers were received with 
great kindness by the government authorities, and Don Ber- 
nardino Camio, a captain of militia cavalry, with twelve 
men, was immediately ordered to Molguilla, the place of 
wreck, where they arrived on the 24th, with a view, as 
the Spanish despatch of Don Jose Bustamente to the min- 



IN DANGER OF BEING ATTACKED BY THE INDIANS. 221 

ister of the interior afterwards expressed, ^ to prevent rob- 
bery and extortion, and to aid in resisting any attack that 
the Indians might be induced to make, from the attractions 
this misfortune might; present to them for pillage.' This 
party was accompanied by the Cacique Pinoleu, his wife 
and daughter, with an escort of several Indians, all mount- 
ed. He presented the captain with a small ox, supposing 
us to be straitened for provisions. A few presents 
to the ladies, in return, were accepted with great satis- 
faction. 

" On the 29th, blowing a northerly gale, with rain, the 
ship worked so much that a separation of the decks from 
the lower part of her was feared. The foremast was cut 
away, and the larboard sheet-anchor let go : the mainmast 
and bowsprit being only now standing. The gale continu- 
ing on the 30th, and there being eight feet of water in the 
hold, it required hard work at the pumps to get most of 
the provisions on the lower deck. Just before one, this 
morning, Don Bernardino came to the camp with informa- 
tion, brought by a horseman just arrived, that the Indians 
had yesterday been fighting near us, and might shortly be 
expected ; recommending strictly to guard against their in- 
sidious mode of attack, particularly about daybreak, and, 
like them, ' to sleep by day and watch by night.' The sea- 
men and marines were immediately under arms. The cap- 
tain made his disposition of the force in quarter-watches, 
under arms, and gave orders as to the plan of defence. 
Rockets, blue lights, and fire balls, were in readiness, to 
throw amongst the horses ; fires kept, and torches burnt ; 
the officers, till daylight, parading the camp with lanterns. 
The party on board, under the second heutenant, were 
equally on the alert ; firing a great gun, shotted, to aid the 
demonstration of our watchfulness. At daylight tea was 
made for the crew, who then rested an hour or two. 

" From this period till the 8th of June, when the ship 
was finally quitted, on the removal of our encampment, 
little could be done beyond retaining her as a point d^appui 
to our camp, or, perhaps, retreat if necessary. 

" Mr. Rouse, the British consul, arrived at our encamp- 
ment, with Lieutenant-Colonel Don Geronimo Valenzuela, 
the governor of Arauco, on the 3 1st of May j and their 
19* 



222 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

arrival was hailed as the dawn of our deliverance. A con- 
sultation was immediately held, on the insurmountable diffi- 
culties which the state of the roads, at this season, presented 
to the march of so large a crew as that of the Challenger's 
to "Conception, a distance of sixty leagues ; it was determined 
to move to the south of the River Leibii, about eighteen miles 
north, and there await the means of embarkation. To pro- 
ceed this short distance only, a sufficient number of mules 
and horses could not be collected without sending to Arauco, 
one hundred and twenty miles distant. 

" We now commenced the month of June with fresh 
stimulus to exertion. The second lieutenant was despatch- 
ed to Conception to ascertain the probability of early assist- 
ance from any man-of-war, or of engaging any other vessel, 
capable of embarking the crew. A despatch had, in the first 
instance, been sent, through the consul at Conception, to the 
consul-general at Santiago, and another to the commodore, 
to await his arrival at Valparaiso ; which place the intelli- 
gence of our shipwreck did not reach till the 18th of June, 
thirty days after the wreck. Some pieces of the ship's bot- 
tom this day washed ashore. 

" On the 2d of June the first detachment, under the 
first lieutenant, moved forward, with tents and other requi- 
sites, to commence an encampment at the mouth of the 
Leibii River. On the third, every mule that could be mus- 
tered was sent on with stores, camp-baggage, and provisions, 
and the following day the sick were removed. 

" This evening Lieutenant-Colonel Valenzuela received a 
letter from Arauco, to inform him that six hundred Indians, 
under Cadin, were within two days' march of us, and two 
thousand more assembled on the hills to support them. We 
were therefore again on the qui vive. 

"On the 5th and 6th of June other detachments followed; 
and on the latter day the captain and officers distributed their 
cabin furniture, and many other acceptable presents, amongst 
their Spanish Chileno friends. 

" The 7th of June all tents were struck at daylight ; but 
the mules failing, a well-appointed rear-guard was left with 
the third lieutenant; and soon after noon on the Sth, all 
quitted a spot, the scene of which imbittered every recol- 
lection. 



THE JOYFUL ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN FITZROY. 223 

" The situation of the present encampment was the direct 
opposite of the last. From a flat, with deep sand, we were 
now on a steep accUvity, in the niche of a thick wood; and 
the weather being very wet, and the soil greasy and slippery, 
it was difficult to preserve a footing. The River Leibii ran 
into a bay, about two hundred yards below us, whence the 
men brought large stones to make a foot-path, and trenches 
were dug to drain the camp. With stones, also, a wharf 
was formed, and a derrick raised ready for embarking. The 
large trees around were felled, and the brush-wood cleared 
away; and a formidable ring fence made to guard against 
surprise. On a steep eminence, flanking the south, a flag- 
staff was erected, a jack kept flying, and wood constantly 
cut for fire, as signals. 

'•'This occupation whiled away the time, and kept the 
men's thoughts employed ; but rainy, tempestuous weather 
frequently confined them to their tents, in which neither 
bedding nor clothes could be kept dry. The sick list was 
rapidly increasing, and typhoid symptoms evident; pro- 
visions wasting ; supplies, from bad weather, precarious ; 
and the period of release uncertain. These desponding 
considerations could not be contemplated without appre- 
hension. Amongst these evils might be enumerated the pest 
of a large species of mice, with prominent eyes, and lizard- 
like feet : they swarmed at Molguilla ; but at this place the 
number of these destructive marauders can scarcely be 
conceived. The hundreds daily killed made no difference ; 
they devoured every thing ; and the noise at night, caused 
by their running over our tents, resembled the falUng drops 
of rain in a heavy shower. 

" On the 23d, towards midnight, ' Challenger ! ' was hailed 
from the opposite side of the river; and, on the return of the 
boat, all hearts were gladdened by the presence of Captain 
Fitzroy, of his majesty's brig Beagle. This gallant officer, 
associating with the spirit of true philanthropy a sense of 
paramount duty to assist the crew of one of his majesty's 
ships in distress, quitted his ship to accompany Commodore 
Mason, in his majesty's ship Blonde, to Conception, whence 
he travelled on horseback with the utmost speed to our 
camp ; and, having made the necessary arrangements with 
Captain Seymour, the next morning set off, and with the 



224 THE WRECK OF THE CHALLENGER. 

same despatch returned to the Blonde. Less than an ac- 
knowledgment of this gentleman's kindness would be in- 
gratitude. 

" On the 26th, a report being circulated that the wreck 
was burnt, an officer was sent to Molguilla, and ascertained 
that two days before it had been burnt to below the copper, 
the mainmast burnt in two, and part of it washed on shore ; 
the shell of the bottom, and a small part of the head, being 
all that now remained to be seen of that line ship. Some 
tanks, washed on shore, were carried away by the na- 
tives. 

'' From the 23d, expectation was kept at its height, until 
Sunday morning, the 5th of July, when 'a sail' was re- 
ported from the flag-staff. All ears were open, and every 
eye directed towards the hill ; and when ' Blonde ' was 
hailed to the camp, a cheer followed, and every heart ex- 
panded with joy. 

" Four boats immediately left the Blonde for the camp, 
in preparation for the morrow. The next morning she 
anchored on the skirt of the bay, tents were struck, and the 
embarkation commenced at daylight. In the forenoon the 
commodore himself visited the camp, and soon after sunset 
all were embarked ; and the officers will long cherish recol- 
lections of the very kind attention paid to their wants and 
comforts by the officers of the Blonde. 

" On the 8th of July, when about to enter the port of 
Conception, we observed a schooner at leeward, under jury- 
masts ; on going to her relief, she proved to be the Carmen, 
which the commodore had despatched from this port to our 
relief. She had been seen from our flag-staff, but the River 
Leibii being incorrectly laid down in the charts, she ran past, 
and, having been dismasted in a squall, and getting within 
the current that proved fatal to the Challenger, was for 
some time in danger of sharing her fate. The Blonde towed 
her into Talcahuana Bay, where, and at Conception, we 
were witnesses of the wide-spreading desolation of the late 
earthquake. 

" On sailing, next day, Mr. Rouse, our worthy consul, left 
us, carrying with him the warm esteem of Captain Seymour 
and his officers, and the respects of all. For the whole time 
since his entering the campaign with us, we had benefited 



ARRIVAL HOME. 



225 



by his able services, added to his official tact, his urbanity, 
and kind disposition. 

" After touching at Valparaiso, all the officers, and part 
of the Challenger's crew, embarked on board H. M. ship 
Conway, at Coquimbo, whence we sailed, 22d July, cheered 
by the Blonde, and our own pleasing anticipations of soon 
rrieeting the congratulations of our friends, and the sympa- 
thies of our generous countrymen. Including our stay of 
one week in Rio de Janeiro, we completed a passage to 
Spithead in eighty-four days ; during which, the inconve- 
niences of a crowded state were obviated by attention to 
our accommodation, and the arrangements kindly made by 
Captain Eden. 

'^ The misfortunes of the Challenger may not be without 
a moral bearing. Our costly experience may prove useful 
to future navigators on this dangerous coast. With the 
civilized portion of the inhabitants of a country of grow- 
ing commercial importance, the British character has been 
upheld ; and the many relics of our disaster left with the 
rude natives, during our sojourn amongst them, will tend 
to perpetuate the event; and in their remote traditions 
may figure, as a leading tale, the fate of the ' Desfiador,' 
and the adventures of her crew on the plains of Mol- 
guilla." 




NAUTICAL SKILL 



EVINCED IN 



EXTRICATLNG THE FRIGATE PIQUE 



HER PERILOUS SITUATION ON THE 
ROCKS OF LABRADOR, 

WHERE SHE LOST HER KEEL; 

And the Passsge across the Atlantic, dnring which 
she lost her Rudder, and was steered Fifteen 
Hundred Miles without one ; Septeinher, 1835. 




FRIGATE PiaUE was com- 
missioned to carry home to 
England the governor-general 
of the Canadas and suite. 
Accordingly, Lord and Lady 
Aylmer embarked in her, and proceeded down the St. 
Lawrence. 

Five days after the Pique left Quebec, she reached the 
entrance of the Straits of Belle Isle, having taken that 
passage from the force of the southerly winds. On the 
evening of the 22d the wind was on her quarter, and 
she was making rapid progress ; but the wind freshening 
about nine o'clock, the studdingsails were taken in, and the 
courses hauled up. At half past ten the fore-topsail was 
on the cap, and the men were lying out to reef the sail, 
when Captain Rous, who was on the gangway, saw breakers 
close to the ship and ahead. The helm was instantly put 
down, and the ship readily answered it ; but in doing so, she 
struck with great violence on the rocks ; and, except being 
lifted by the sea as the waves came in, she was immovable. 
She was going about seven knots at the time ; the weather 



THE LOSS OF THE RUDDER. 227 

was thick and foggy ; and though the ship was not fifty 
yards from the rocky beach, the land was not discerned till 
daybreak. It was about half-ebb when she struck ; but as 
the tides do not rise or fall much, she continued to lift and 
strike, with the exception of perhaps an hour, until she was 
hove off on the following morning at nine. 

Here the beauty of Captain Symonds's system was emi- 
nent, for had she been a common flat-floored ship, she would 
have bilged ; but, as she is constructed, all the mischief was 
spent on her false keel and keelson. On her first striking, 
the boats were got out, and the master sounded round her, 
and two or three anchors were got out astern ; twenty guns 
were thrown overboard, as was the most considerable part 
of her shot, and about one hundred tons of fresh water were 
started and pumped out. The crew were very active ; but 
such was the order observed, that they piped to breakfast as 
usual the next morning ; and they had not been down more 
than a quarter of an hour, when Captain Rous found the 
ship move a little ; the cables astern had been hauled taught, 
the men were turned up, the capstans quickly manned, and 
she was hove ofl" with apparent ease, and subsequently was 
got into Auce au Loup, or Wolf's Cove, and by the next 
morning was put to rights and went to sea. 

On the following Sunday, the wind blowing fresh, a vio- 
lent sea struck the rudder, — some of the pintles and gud- 
geons of which must have been broken while thumping on 
the rocks, — and tore it from the stern-post. In a short 
time, however, a temporary one on Captain Symonds's plan 
was got ready, but it was found to strike so violently against 
the stern-post and counter, that it was cut away ; and the 
carpenter soon made another, on Pakenham's plan, wliich 
was fixed, and the ship was steered by it for some days, 
when that was obliged to be cut away, from the ragged state 
of the bottom and copper, having chafed and cut the guys 
which were led forwards. The ship was now steered with- 
out a rudder for fifteen hundred miles, and when she rolled 
much, made more than three feet of water an hour; and 
from the time of her getting ofl" the rocks, until her arrival 
into port, never less than twenty inches. 

On Sunday evening a N. N. W. wind had driven her 
over to the coast of France ; but as an excellent reckoning 



228 THE PERILS OF THE FRIGATE PIQUE. 

had been kept of her longitude, they made the Casket 
Hghts — within a mile of where they were expected to be 
seen — ten miles distant. At nine o'clock, P. M., she came 
to an anchor in forty fathoms, with a good range of cable 
out ; and on Monday morning sent a vessel, which offered 
her assistance, into Guernsey, for any steamer that could be 
found. Soon after noon, however, the wind being southerly, 
she weighed, and providentially reached St. Helen's anchor- 
age early on Tuesday" morning, steered only by a cable 
astern, with a gun-carriage attached to the end of it. Her 
signals for assistance were quickly answered from the dock- 
yard, and Mr. E. M. Hepburn, with three dock lighters and 
the admiral's tender, went immediately to her help. An 
attempt was made to tow her into harbor that morning; but 
the hawsers breaking, she brought up again before she 
reached Spithead ; and on Wednesday she was towed into 
harbor by the Brunswick, Plymouth, steamer. 

The Pique saw only four French vessels during her dis- 
tress ; two of them passed her unheeded: the third having 
hove to near her, at a time when the Pique leaked freely, and 
was without a rudder, it was determined to put Lord and 
Lady Aylmer on board of her, she being bound to Bordeaux; 
but on the carpenter going on board to examine her, and 
finding her in as leaky and helpless a state as the Pique, they 
separated. The fourth vessel promptly rendered assistance, 
and towed round the Pique's head so as to put her before 
the wind ; she had then been lying some hours in the trough 
of the sea, and attempts had in vain been made to get her 
into the position desired ; but no sooner had the brig put 
her in that position, than the Pique shot ahead, and thereby 
frustrated any further assistance from the brig, which could 
not keep way with her. To be ready for the worst, the 
boats were made as seaworthy as possible ; a quantity of 
pork was cooked and coopered up in small casks, as were 
also bread, water, and spirits ; and to ease the laboring of 
the ship, four additional guns were thrown overboard in the 
Atlantic. 

No words can describe the admirable conduct of the crew 
during all this difficulty and danger ; they worked hard and 
diligently ; they saw that promptitude only could preserve 
the ship and their lives, and they had confidence in their 




20 



230 THE PERILS OF THE FRIGATE PIQUE. 

officers. The self-command of Captain Rous, throughout 
the whole, was preeminent, and had such a moral influ- 
ence over the subordinates, that his orders were at once 
understood and obeyed ; indeed, the safety of the ship 
mainly depended upon the exercise of great coolness and 
decision. 

The Pique was taken into dock on the 20th October, and 
the crowds of people who visited the yard, to inspect her 
bottom, was astonishing. She has lost her false keel en- 
tirely, and, upon an average, eight inches of her keel are 
gone fore and aft. The most considerable damage, how- 
ever, is forward ; her stem and fore-foot being completely 
gone, leaving the apron and stemson exposed ; and the 
planking forward, where it is rabbeted into the solid stem, 
is left wholly unsupported ; close to the keel, on the lar- 
board side, just aft the foremast, is a terrific place, of about 
thirteen feet in circumference, where she must have ground 
against a rock, the centre of which has rubbed through the 
planking, and within two inches of the inner side of the 
floor-timbers. About fifteen feet farther aft is another 
place, of nearly the same size, but not so deep ; also, close 
to the keel, a third place has the most awful appearance ; it 
is under the bread-room, and in the forepart of the dead 
wood. The ship must have had her keel upon a rock, and 
have hung as it were upon a pivot ; for it is nearly circular, 
and of a cone-like shape, about sixteen feet in circumference, 
and hollowed out to the height of about three feet from the 
outer surface of the false keel. There was no damage on 
the starboard side, except a little ruffling of the copper. 

The Pique is a favorite ship in the British navy ; and in 
her construction three important improvements were intro- 
duced, by which her preservation is mainly to be attributed; 
for had she been of the ordinary build, she would have 
bilged, and been a total loss. It is generally admitted by 
every one who has examined the bottom of this vessel since 
she has been in dock, that her safety may be attributed to 
her peculiar construction. First, her keel is constructed on 
the principle of Mr. Oliver Lang, so that if a vessel gets 
aground, the false and outer keels may be carried away, by 
beating against the rocks, without the danger of admitting 
water into her : and she may even then undergo a further 



grinding on the rocks, till the keel, with the mass of timber 
about it, is fairly broken away, which will afford sufficient 
time to save her from destruction, if it be possible. 

How completely has this been verified in the case of the 
Pique ! Both of these keels, fore and aft of the vessel, have 
been ground away, besides a considerable mass of the timber 
about them ; and the vessel has been happily saved from de- 
struction, and brought her crew home in this condition ; be- 
sides, also, without a rudder. Secondly, the rising floors, 
adopted by Captain Symonds, were admirably calculated to 
assist in getting her off, after suffering in a manner in her 
keels — for above them, from a moderate distance, all was 
untouched — that would have been fatal to a vessel of an- 
other construction. Another advantage she had, and which 
contributed much to keep the water out of her, was her 
having the solid bottom, adopted by Sir Thomas Seppings. 
Every one allows, who has seen the Pique, that it is next 
to a miracle that the vessel reached Portsmouth ; and had 
not the above three advantages been united in her construc- 
tion, and provided with excellent officers and an effective 
crew, there can be httle doubt that she would have done so. 
We shall conclude this article with the letter of Captain 
Rous to the admiralty, and the flattering answer thereto. 



A Letter from Captain Rous to Charles Wood, Esq., Secre- 
tary of the Admiralty. 

«H. M. Ship Pique, ISth October, 1835. 

" Sir : — I beg you will acquaint my lords commissioners 
of the admiralty that I left Quebec on the 17th September, 
with Lord and Lady Aylmer, and suite, on board. On the 
21st, off Anticosti, wind southerly, I bore up for the Belle 
Isle Passage ; and being close in with St. John's Head, New- 
foundland, at 6 h. 30 m., P. M., on the 22d, I stood over 
to the Labrador side, to avoid the low shore and islands on 
the opposite coast. At 10 h., P.M., the weather getting 
foggy, wind moderate at west, shortened sail, and steered 
a channel course, E. by N. At 10, P. M., whilst the officer 
of the watch was in the act of reefing topsails, the master 
and myself looking out, breakers were reporteH under the 



I 



232 THE PERILS OF THE FRIGATE PIQUE. "^ 

bows ; put the helm hard a-port ; the ship immediately struck 
and hung ; clewed up every thing, and the ship swung with 
her head to the northward ; made sail again, and hove all 
aback ; she sailed off, but the tide catching her wedged her 
in between two rocks. Furled the sails and sent the master 
to sound ; down royal and topgallant-yards and masts, the 
ship striking heavily. 

" The master reported four and a half and five fathoms 
round the ship, excepting a rock, with three fathoms under 
the larboard main-chains, and seventeen feet abreast the 
starboard chess-tree, deep water outside. The weather 
being thick and rainy, we could only discover a low, rocky 
ledge, extending about fifty fathoms, E. i S., parallel to the 
ship, distant about sixty yards ; out all boats ; laid out the 
stream E. S. E., and hove a heavy strain. The ebb tide 
made about eleven o'clock ; employed in starting the water, 
heaving shot and guns overboard, and pumping ship. At 
2, A. M., wind freshened from W. S. W. ; boats were 
obliged to lie under her larboard fore-chains for shelter; 
frigate striking very heavily, and the masts threatening to 
fall at every blow. 

'^ On the flood tide making, laid out a kedge S. E. by S., 
and warped out the launch, carrying the bower anchor, with 
the cutters and jolly-boat buoying up a one hundred fathom 
cable ; hove a taught strain. At 7 h. 30 m. wind shifted to 
W. N. W., a point off the land ; set the foresail, bracing 
forward the head-yards; 8 h., piped to breakfast; 8 h., the 
ship forged ahead a few feet ; set the fore-topsail, and 
heaving alternately heavy strains, and the ship's company 
running forward on the bowsprit. At 9 h., she wormed 
herself out from her bed of rocks ; and ran into Wolfs 
Bay, and anchored, the frigate making thirteen inches 
water per hour. This misfortune was owing to the flood 
tide setting us to the N. W., as we stood over to the N. E., 
from the coast of Newfoundland. The following morning 
we were under all sail for England. The leak increased 
gradually until the 26th September, viz., to twenty-three 
inches per hour. On the 27th, lost our rudder, in lat. 50° 
10', long. 40° 6\ September 28th, shipped a temporary 
rudder, which w^as carried away by a heavy sea. The next 
day, September 30, not being able to wear ship, in a heavy 



THE APPROBATION OF THE ADMIRALTY. 233 

gale from the northward, we were obliged to heave to, with 
our head to the W. Ship laboring very much, and the fore- 
mast working in the step, got topgallantmasts on deck ; cut 
away best bower anchor, and cleared out every thing from 
the forepart of the ship. On the 1st of October fell in with 
the French brig Suffren, of St. Maloes, who offered us every 
assistance in her power; sent by her the particulars of our 
situation. October 4th, the carpenter successfully stopped 
up a leak in her fore-foot, and mended one of the chain- 
pumps, which had worn through. On the 6th, rigged a 
Pakenham rudder, being the first fine day we had experi- 
enced ; a heavy sea carried away this rudder on the 10th, 
and we again broached to, in a heavy N. W. gale, with our 
head to the S. W. On the 11th it moderated ; wore round. 
At 8, P. M., on the 12th, was obliged to anchor in forty-one 
fathoms to the westward of the Caskets, not being able to 
weather them, with a northerly wind ; and at 2, P. M., 
yesterday, got under way, and anchored at St. Helens at 
4, A. M., this day ; having run fifteen hundred miles, with- 
out any rudder, and the ship requiring to be pumped every 
hour. I have great pleasure in recommending to their lord- 
ships' notice the gallant and steady conduct of every officer, 
seaman, and marine, under all these trying circumstances ; 
it is not in my power to do justice to their merits ; and I am 
happy to add that no loss of life, or serious injury, has be- 
fallen any one. 

" I have, &c., 

"H.J.ROUS, Capiain, 
" To Charles Wood, Esq,, &c." 



Letter from Admiral Sir Thomas Williams to the Han, 
Captain Rous, 

"Britannia, Portsmouth Harbor, Sd JVovember, 1835. 

" Sir : — On the paying oflf of the Pique, the lords com- 
missioners of the admiralty are desirous of expressing their 
approbation of the conduct of yourself, and the officers and 
crew under your command, in extricating the Pique from 
the perilous situation she was in, when on shore on the 
coast of Labrador, and on her subsequent voyage home, 
20* 



234 



THE PERILS OF TPIE FRIGATE PIQUE. 



under circumstances of great difficulty; and such as required 
skill and exertions of no ordinary kind ; and you will there- 
fore receive and communicate their lordships' sentiments to 
the officers and crew of his majesty's ship Pique, under your, 
command, accordingly. 

" I am, sir, your humble servant, 

" THOMAS WILLIAMS, Admiral 

^'Caj)tain the Hon. Henry John Rous, 
" H. M, Ship Pique:' 




AFFECTING ACCIDENT. 

A CHILD OVERBOARD. 

1836. 

IN the year 1836, during one of the passages of his 
majesty's steamer Firefly to Malta, there were on board 
Captain Graham, of the army, his lady, and three children, 
proceeding to Malta to join his regiment. One fine day 
the nurse took the youngest child on deck, and seated her- 
self against the gangway. While in this position, the vessel 
suddenly lurched, and the nurse, with the innocent charge, 
was in a moment struggling in the waves. Their shrieks 
were heard by the watch, who instantly sprang to the life- 
buoy ; but, unfortunately, the cordage was so entangled that 
they could not cast it into the sea. The man at the wheel 
ordered the vessel to be stopped, and loudly shouted, " Pas- 
sengers overboard ! " In a moment all were on deck ; and 
among them were the parents of the drowning infant. A 
wild shriek burst from the lips of the agonized mother ; a 
convulsive tremor overpowered her feelings, and she was 
taken below. The father gazed mournfully on his tender 
offspring, grasped in the arms of its nurse, but could do 
nothing of avail for its recovery. At length a boat was 
launched, and away the crew went to rescue them ; by this 
time they were about half a mile from the steamer. The 
nurse's clothes had buoyed her up, and, though nearly 
insensible, she still grasped the child ; but just as they had 
come within haif, the poor woman's senses had entirely 
forsaken her, and she loosened her hold of the child, who 
now floated away a long distance apart. The boat's crew 
by this time came up with the floating body of the nurse, 
whose perception returned ; and her first exclamation was, 
*' For God's sake, save the child ; don't mind me." Both 
nurse and child were mercifully rescued; and when they 
were again safe, the whole on board gave three hearty 
cheers of grateful thanks for their almost miraculous pres- 
ervation. Medical aid was promptly administered, and the 
delighted parents seemed once more to be happy. But, 
alas ! the following day their child died, and the body was 
committed to its ocean grave. 



THE STRANDING 



BARQUE MEXICO, 

ON HEMPSTEAD BEACH, 
SOUTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND ; 

By which Catastrophe One Hundred and Sixteen 
Lives were lost; Jannary, 1837. 





1 



Y this terrible calamity a greater number 
of lives were lost than by any previous 
shipwreck on the coast of the United 
States ; and it was the more lamen- 
table from having been brought about 
mainly by two causes. The first was, 
the unfortunate vessel left Liverpool 
without provisions sufficient to meet 
the exigency of a long passage ; and, having had one, 
when she reached the American coast, her unfortunate 
company were in a state of starvation. 

After arriving on the pilot ground, without being able to 
obtain one, in a leaky vessel, and the crew worn down with 
hunger and fatigue, the captain was obliged to remain nearer 
the coast than he would have done under more favorable cir- 
cumstances, for fear of being blown off. 

The second cause was, the defective arrangement of the 
New York pilot system at that time ; for, had the pilots 
been at their stations, this misfortune would not have 
happened. 

The barque Mexico, Captain Winslow, sailed from Liver- 
pool, for New York, on the 25th of October, 1836. Her 
company consisted of one hundred and four passengers, be- 
sides thirty-three children, and a crew of twelve men ; in 
all, one hundred and forty-nine souls. After a long and 



A FATAL MISTAKE. • S37 

tedious passage, during which the passengers suffered ter- 
ribly from hunger, the ship, on Saturday the 31st De- 
cember, at 11, A. M., made the Woodland, on the Jersey 
shore ; ran down and hove to, on seeing the Hght on the 
Highlands. On Sunday, at 6, A. M., bore up to Sandy 
Hook, and at 7 was near the bar ; previous to which, had 
a signal flying for a pilot, and then hoisted a signal of 
distress, as, from the length of the passage, the passengers 
had been out of provisions, and had, for eleven days, 
been served with a biscuit each from the ship's stores. 
Saw a steamer, which had towed a vessel out, taking 
another and towing her in ; and although the steamer must 
have seen the signal of distress, yet neither steamer nor 
pilot came to their relief; a number of vessels also came 
within view, with signals flying for pilots. With a degree 
of anxiety not to be expressed, as no pilots appeared, Cap- 
tain Winslow had to stand off*, under the most distressing 
circumstances, from the snow-storm of Sunday night, and 
the cold of Monday ; yet on Monday he got within view of 
the Hook, with signals of distress, and for a pilot, still fly- 
ing; fired several guns, but no pilot. Stood off, but fearing 
to be blown off, short of provisions as they were, kept the 
lead going, and as near shore as possible. Worn down 
with fatigue. Captain Winslow went below, and after some 
time asked the mate what soundings ; who answered, fifteen 
fathoms, which depth gave fifteen miles off the land, and 
that would be ample for safety ; but this was an awful mis- 
take, as the course was continued, and at 5, A. M., on 
Tuesday morning, the vessel struck the Hempstead Beach. 
On Monday night and Tuesday morning, the thermometer 
stood at four degrees above zero; the wind was along shore, 
a high sea and surf running. Shortly after, the rudder 
went, the main and mizzenmasts were cut away, the water 
began to rise in the hold, the spray was flying over, and 
wherever it touched became ice. The passengers, finding 
the water gaining in the hold, and seeing no hope of saving 
their baggage, seized on what was most valuable; those who 
had money fastened it round their bodies. There were 
found in a small silk handkerchief two prayer-books, which 
seemed to be the only valuables their owners regarded 
under their awfully appalling circumstances. They were 



238 THE STRANDING OF THE MEXICO. 

Roman Catholic prayer-books, one belonging to a man, the 
of her to a woman. 

The situation of the ship soon attracted numbers to the 
beach. Miserable as their situation was, from cold, hunger, 
and exhaustion, all were alive; each clung near to those 
who were most dear ; the wife and husband, with their 
children, in each other's embrace; brothers and sisters; and 
so they were found on the beach. But what language can 
paint the horror of the scene? As the day wore away, the 
captain launched the long-boat, making fast a hawser to it ; 
hope revived ; by the pitching of the vessel, from the haw- 
ser being too taught, it broke, and the long-boat, which was 
to have borne them to the shore, gained the beach in perfect 
safety, but never returned. 

It would be an act of great injustice not to state that the 
people on the beach manifested the greatest solicitude to 
relieve the wretched objects of their compassion, who were 
within hearing ; and at length Raynor Smith, with six vol- 
unteers, who had come to aid Mr. Seaman, the wreck- 
master, though at the peril of their lives, put off through 
the surf, and got to the bowsprit, in some degree protected 
from the sea, when three passengers and three seamen 
dropped down by ropes into the boat, as also the captain 
and young Master Broom, all of whom with difficulty 
reached the shore. 

The British consul, who visited the scene, says, "I con- 
fess I am utterly unable to proceed in the painful detail, of 
which I know of no parallel ; and the only consolation — 
while I am writing at the beach, so near the scene, with 
many of the dead bodies, as it were, before me — is, that 
their sufferings are ended ; but I must proceed. The state 
of the tide, the violence of the surf and spray, the intense 
cold, that turned to ice every dash of the waves which 
touched the boat and oars, obliged the brave Smith and his 
heroic party to abandon all hope of returning to the vessel; 
and, O horrible alternative I they drew the boat out of the 
surf on the beach. And who saw this just as the sun was 
setting on that fatal day ? One hundred and eight persons 
big with hope, that they had crossed the Atlantic — some 
that they were to embrace their parents, a wife her 
husband. 



HUMANE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECTATORS. 



239 




The Wreck of the Mexico and Rescue of Captain Winslow. 



" Gracious God ! what tongue can speak the misery, the 
despair, the suffering, of one hundred and eight of our 
fellow-beings, twelve hours in the suspense described ? and 
now, the sun declining, the people mournfully withdrawing 
from their cries, the spray and the frost fast binding them 
to each other ; all hope, all prospect of relief extinct. 
Some of the humane people, who lingered on the shore, 
say that the cries and supplications were distinctly he&rd ; 
but they gradually died away, and at 11, P. M., not a voice 
was heard." 

As fast as the remorseless ocean threw up the frozen 
corpses on the strand, they were snatched from the surf by 
the humane spectators, who, after freeing them from the 
ice and tangled sea-weed with which they were enveloped, 
carried them to a place of shelter ; where the British con- 
sul, the sheriff, and coroner of the county, were in waiting 
to make arrangements for their burial. 

A gentleman who visited the building in which they were 
placed, gives the following affecting details : — 

''On reaching Hempstead, I concluded to go somewhat 
off the road, to look at the place where the Mexico was cast 



240 THE STRANDING OF THE MEXICO. 

away. In half an hour we came to Lott's tavern, — some 
four or five miles this side of the beach where the ship 
lay, — and here, in his barn, had been deposited the bodies 
of the ill-fated passengers which had been thrown upon the 
shore. I went out to the barn. The doors were open ; and 
such a scene as here presented itself to my view, I certainly 
never could have contemplated. It was a dreadful, a fright- 
ful scene of horror. 

" Forty or fifty bodies, of all ages and sexes, were lying 
promiscuously before me over the floor, all frozen, and as 
solid as marble; and all, except a few, in the very dresses 
in which they perished ; some with their hands cUnched, as 
if for warmth ; and almost every one with an arm crooked 
and bent, as it would be in clinging to the rigging. 

" There were scattered about, among the number, four 
or five beautiful little girls, from six to sixteen years of 
age, their cheeks and lips as red as roses, with their calm 
blue eyes open, looking you in the face, as if they would 
speak. 

" I could hardly realize that they were dead. I touched 
their cheeks, and they were frozen as hard and as solid as a 
rock ; and not the least indentation could be made by any 
pressure of the hand. I could perceive a resemblance to 
each other, and supposed them to be the daughters of a 
Mr. Pepper, who perished, together with his wife and whole 
family. 

" On the arms of some were to be seen the impression 
of the rope which they clung to, — the mark of the twist 
deeply sunk in the flesh. I saw one poor negro sailor, a 
tall man, with his head thrown back, his hps parted, and his 
now sightless eyeballs turned upward, and his arms crossed 
over his breast, as if imploring Heaven for aid. This poor 
fellow evidently had frozen, while in the act of fervent 
prayer. 

" One female had a rope tied to her leg, which had bound 
her to the rigging ; and a little boy had been crying, and 
the muscles of the face were fixed as we see in children 
when crying. There were a brother and sister dashed upon 
the beach, locked in each other's arms ; but they had been 
separated in the barn. All the men had their lips firmly 
compressed together, and with the most agonizing expression 
on their countenances I ever beheld. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE FROZEN BODIES. 241 

"A little girl had raised herself on tiptoe, and thus was 
frozen just in that position. It was an awful sight; and 
such a picture of horror was before me that I became un- 
consciously fixed to the spot, and found myself trying to 
suppress my ordinary breathing, lest I should disturb the 
repose of those around me. I was aroused from my reverie 
by the entrance of a man, the coroner. 

'•'As I was about to leave, my attention became directed 
to a girl who, I afterwards learned, had come that morning 
from the city to search for her sister. She had sent for her 
to come over from England, and had received intelligence 
that she was in this ship. She came into the barn, and the 
second body she cast her eyes upon was hers. She gave 
way to such a burst of impassioned grief and anguish, that 
I could not behold her without sharing her feelings. She 
threw herself upon the cold and icy face and neck of the 
lifeless body, and thus, with her arms around her, remained 
waiUng, moaning, and sobbing, till I came away ; and when 
some distance off, I could hear her calhng her by name, in the 
most frantic manner. 

" So little time, it appears, had they to prepare for their 
fate, that I perceived a bunch of keys, and a half-eaten 
cake, fall from the bosom of a girl whom the coroner was 
removing. The cake appeared as if part of it had just been 
bitten, and hastily thrust into her bosom; and round her neck 
was a ribbon with a pair of scissors suspended. 

"And to observe the stout, rugged sailors, too, w^iose iron 
frames could endure such hardships! here they lay, — masses 
of ice. Such scenes show us, indeed, how powerless and 
feeble are all human efforts, when contending against the 
storms and tempests which sweep with resistless violence 
over the face of the deep. And yet the vessel was so near 
the shore, that the shrieks and moans of the poor creatures 
were heard through that bitter night, till, towards the morn- 
ing, the last groan died away, and all was hushed in death ; 
and the murmur of the raging billows was all the sound that 
then met the ear." 

After the storm the wreck was approached; and here and 
there were seen columns, pillars of ice, which had formed 
on the frozen bodies, as the sea broke over them. 

The humane inhabitants of Hempstead and its vicinity, 
21 



242 THE STRANDING OF THE MEXICO. 

being actuated by the purest sentiments of philanthropy, held 
a public meeting on Friday, the 6th of January, at which the 
following preamble and resolutions were adopted : — 

*'The inhabitants of the town of Hempstead, feeHng 
themselves called upon by the recent awful and distressing 
shipwreck, and unprecedented loss of life on the melancholy 
occasion, held a large and respectable meeting on Friday 
evening, when it was unanimously 

" Resolved, That since it has pleased the Great Disposer 
of events to cast upon our shore the bodies of many friend- 
less fellow-creatures, suddenly deprived of life by a most 
disastrous shipwreck, we deem it a solemn duty, devolving 
upon us, to cause them to be decently and properly interred ; 
— that a committee of twelve be appointed to collect contri- 
butions for the purpose of purchasing a piece of ground, to 
be forever reserved solely for the interment of bodies which 
shall hereafter be cast upon our beach ; and, also, for the 
further purpose of erecting a suitable monument over the 
bodies now to be interred. 

" Whereupon the following gentlemen were named as 
the committee : — 

*' John Bedell, Richard Carman, Nathaniel Seaman, Jacob 
Coles, Stephen C. Shedeker, Piatt Willets, Peter T. Hewlett, 
Oliver Denton, John W. De Mott, Daniel Mot, John I. Lott, 
and Raynor R. Smith. 

" The committee, having succeeded in obtaining ample 
funds, have purchased a lot of ground adjacent to the burial- 
ground of the Methodist church, near Rockaway, and to 
be attached to the same, under the restrictions of the reso- 
lutions ; and every arrangement has been made for the inter- 
ment of the bodies in a respectable manner, and with appro- 
priate ceremonies. 

" The interment will take place on Wednesday next, the 
11th instant, at eleven o'clock, A. M., if fair weather, — if 
not, on the next fair day thereafter, at the same hour, — 
from the house of John I. Lott. 

" The ladies of the village of Hempstead, actuated by 
the pure spirit of benevolence and sympathizing tenderness 
which ever mark the female character, in a short time raised 
sufficient funds to purchase burial garments for the females 



THE FUNERAL OF THE SUFFERERS. 243 

and children among the dead. Not satisfied with simply 
providing the materials, in a space of time almost incredible, 
they have completed them ; and several ladies, with an en- 
ergy and zeal worthy the sex, proceeded to the house of 
Major Lott, and with their own hands enshrouded in the 
habiliments of the grave the bodies there collected. 

^' The clergymen of three different churches having con- 
sented to unite on this peculiarly solemn and interesting 
occasion, it is expected that the ceremonies will be awfully 
impressive ; and the public generally are invited to be 

^^^^ " * *' By order of the committee. 

"JOHN BEDELL, Chamnan, 

"Hempst.:ad, January 7thi 1337." 

Accordingly, as many of the bodies as had been rescued 
from the ocean, and not claimed by friends, were interred at 
Hempstead, near Rockaway, on Wednesday, 11th January. 
A piece of ground, adjoining the Methodist burying-place, 
had been purchased by contribution, and prepared for the 
purpose. The whole number of corpses taken from the 
water was forty-nine. Of these, Patrick Murray, Rosa 
Hughes, Samuel Blackburn, Catharine Galligan, James 
Lawrence, and William Evans, had been recognized by 
their relatives or friends, and taken away for their inter- 
ment. Of the remaining forty-three, the bodies of the 
following individuals were known, viz., William Pepper and 
wife, Martha Mooney, Andrew M'Donald, and a person 
supposed from his dress to be the mate, and another the 
steward. The bodies, having been decently inwrapped in 
shrouds, and laid in separate coffins, were, with the ex- 
ception of three colored bodies, interred in one capacious 
grave, the coffins being placed side by side in a continued 
row. They were — men, twenty; women, ten; boys, seven; 
girls, three ; total, forty. 

The colored bodies were committed to the care of the 
colored people of the neighborhood, and interred at the 
same time, and within the same enclosure. 

A great concourse of people assembled at the house of 
Major John L Lott, in Hempstead, at eleven o'clock, and 
from thence moved in procession to the Methodist church, 



244 THE STRANDING OF THE MEXICO. 

a distance of three miles. The coffins were placed in sep- 
arate wagons, and the procession moved in the following 
order : — 

The Clergy. 

Committee of Arrangements. 

The Corpses. 

f Women, 1 

J Men, [ 

1 Children, f 

[ Colored. J 

Pall-Bearers. 
Friends and Relatives. 

Citizens, in more than three hundred carriages of 
various descriptions. 

On arriving at the church, a funeral sermon was de- 
livered by the Rev. Mr. Carmichael, and prayers offered 
by Rev. Mr. Crane. Rev. Dr. Shoemaker, of Jamaica, 
Rev. Mr. Law, and Rev. Mr. Floy, of Hempstead, were 
also present. The whole scene was one of great solemnity 
and interest. The citizens in the places adjacent to the 
wreck, have exhibited a very lively interest in the sufferers 
by this shocking calamity, and, by their Christian sympathy, 
did all which respect for the deceased, or a desire to allevi- 
ate the sorrows of their friends, could suggest. The ladies 
exerted themselves most benevolently, providing shrouds for 
all, and taking the bodies of the females entirely under their 
own charge. The thanks of the public, as well as the friends 
of the sufferers, are due them. Provisions were made for 
any other bodies which might be recovered, and they would 
be interred in the same place. 

About three hundred dollars belonging to the unfortunate 
passengers, and which were never claimed by their relatives, 
were, in the year 1840, appropriated by the legislature of 
New York for the erection of a monument over theii 
remains. 

The Mexico was a substantial eastern built vessel, of 280 
tons, and eleven years old, and owned by Mr. Samuel 
Broome, of New York, whose brother, a lad, was saved. 

The seven men who courageously went off to the barque, 
after dragging their boat ten miles, and to whose efforts the 



AN AFFECTING LETTER. 245 

eight who were saved owe their lives, received from him a 
gratuity of fifty dollars each. The people in the neighbor- 
hood did their utmost; they cut wood, brought it together, 
built a fire, so that, if any of the sufferers should by any 
possibility get on shore, every thing might be ready for 
their relief. 

The unfortunate passengers were of a very superior class, 
and had considerable property with them ; on the bodies 
which drifted ashore, gold to some amount was found. 
They had been on an allowance of one biscuit a day for 
sixteen or seventeen days, and were dreadfully distressed on 
account of the very severe weather they had encountered, 
during a long and tedious passage of more than ten weeks. 
The following letter was found among the papers recovered 
from the wreck : — 

" To Captain Winslow. 

" 20th December, 1836. 
''Sir: — We, the undersigned, passengers in the barque 
Mexico, under your command, being reduced to a very de- 
plorable state, for want of provisions, and unable any longer 
to bear the privation, take this means of proposing the only 
plan that can be adopted to preserve the lives of ourselves, 
our wives and children. We are fully aware of some pro- 
visions being on board, such as biscuits and herrings. 

" We propose to purchase a sufficient quantity of the 
same, and to give you a deposit equal to their current price 
at New York ; and this will secure you in the value of such 
part of your cargo as we may consume. 

'' We respectfully submit this for your consideration, and 
request a reply in t!ie course of the day." 
Signed by 

WILLIAM ROBERTSON 
and forty others. 

Captain Winslow did not deign to return a written reply 
to this epistle, but merely inquired of the messenger, who 
came for an answer, " Do you want to take command of 
the ship?" Notwithstanding this seeming harshness of the 
captain, it appears that they were subsequently fed from the 
ship's stores. 

21 * 



246 



THE STRANDING OF THE MEXICO. 



In no part of the state of New York are the people more 
moral, religious, economical, or thrifty, than those of Hemp- 
stead, L. I. Strict temperance, unceasing industry, and 
close frugality, assure them independence. Few are very 
rich, none abjectly poor ; and if luxury and splendor be 
rarely seen, want is a greater stranger. The neat churches, 
with their white and graceful steeples, evince a religious and 
simple taste ; and the latter is not less displayed in the gen- 
erally commodious and cleanly dwellings. 

To conclude : this fatal wreck was the cause of the entire 
remodehng of the pilot system, by the legislature of New 
York ; so that at all times there should be a sufficient num- 
ber of pilots off the harbor, to meet any exigencies. Their 
other duties were also defined, and commissioners appointed 
to oversee them. 

Laws were also passed, obliging the owners of passenger 
ships to fully supply them with provisions, so that, in the 
event of a lengthened passage, starvation should not stare 
them in the face. 




A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION 

OF THE 

PERILOUS SITUATION AND PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD 

OF THE 

SHIP CENTAUR OF 74 GUNS, 

CAPTAIN HENRY WHITBY, 



A Hurricane, experienced by a Sqnadron under the 
Command of Commodore De Courcy, in wliicli she 
sprung a-leak and was dismasted, and thereby 
prevented from joining Lord Nelson's Fleet, and 
taking her Station in the Line of Trafalgar ; July, 
1805, 



« Now darker grew the crowded atmosphere ; 
There was no moon on high, and not a star 
Peeped through the sable canopy ; the blast 
Rang loud ; and now the war, more terrible, 
Swept o'er the foaming waves," 



[HE hurricane in which the Centaur suf- 
fered was considered the severest since 
that of 1782, when the old French ship 
of the same name, commanded by Cap- 
tain Inglefield, foundered.* The old 
Centaur's storm was experienced in lat. 
48^=^ 33' N. and long. 42° 20' W. ; that 

of the new Centaur was in 26^ IT N. and 57° 42' W., to 

the northward of Barbadoes. 

* Captain Inglefield's narrative is in the '■^ first series" of " Shipwrecks 
and Disasters at Sea/' by Charles Ellms, See page 52, 




248 A SHIP OF THE LINE IN A HURRICANE. 

"It is well known that in the early part of the year 1805, 
the French and Spanish fleets formed a junction, and pro- 
ceeded to the West Indies, more for tlie purpose of creating 
a diversion, it is probable, than with any serious design of 
committing depredation on our possessions there. Admiral 
Lord Nelson pursued them unsuccessfully; and on the 16th 
of April, Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane arrived at Jamaica 
with six sail of the line and three frigates. It was a part 
of this squadron, on its return to windward, that encountered 
the hurricane. 

" On the 19th of June, the Centaur quitted Port Royal, 
in company with the St. George, Eagle, Atlas, (of the line,) 
and Success and Blanche frigates, for the purpose of joining 
Lord Nelson at Barbadoes. 

" We were obliged to anchor when nearly clear of the 
shoals, in consequence of the commodore's ship, the St. 
George, having struck upon a coral rock. 

" The efforts to heave her off proved unavailing until five 
in the evening, when she was extricated, and anchored in 
the channel. As she made much water, there was no doubt 
of her being damaged, but the worthy commodore deter- 
mined to proceed ; accordingly, at 7, P. M., the ships 
weighed, and stood out to sea. 

*' On the 7th of July, we cleared the Mariguana Passage, 
after rather a tedious beat. It is proper to state here, that, 
whilst on the windward station, the Centaur had run on 
shore, which occasioned a leak, that now became trouble- 
some. On the 13th, we spoke an American schooner, and 
obtained the information from her, that the French fleet had 
sailed from Martinique, destination unknown. No account, 
however, could be gained of Lord Nelson's movements. 

'' On the 28th, we boarded an American Indiaman from 
Batavia to Salem. This unfortunate ship never reached her 
port of destination, and, no doubt, foundered in the dreadful 
storm which came on shortly after. We spoke also several 
brigs and schooners, which probably shared a similar fate ; 
as, from their construction, they appeared quite unequal 
to contend with such weather. For more than a fortnight 
preceding the hurricane, the wind had been very light and 
variable ; on the day last mentioned, it was moderate, from 
E. N. E., with a cloudy sky ; in the early part, without any 



THE FORE-YARD CARRIED AWAY. 249 

particular indication of blowing weather setting in. We 
were unprovided with a barometer, or, no doubt, we should 
have been forewarned of the approaching war of the ele- 
ments. At six in the evening, however, the wind began to 
freshen so much, that the topsails were double-reefed ; it 
continued to blow during the night with a little increase of 
strength, but we had no apprehension of any thing more 
than a common gale occurring. As daylight, on the 29th, 
approached, the clouds assumed a dark hue and heavy ap- 
pearance, and continued to thicken and spread around and 
in the zenith, until not a spot of the azure sky could be dis- 
tinguished ; squalls of wind soon followed, with heavy, dri- 
ving rain and vivid flashes of lightning, unaccompanied with 
thunder, — precursors of the awful tumult that awaited us. 

< There's not a cloud in that dark plain 

But tells of storms to come, or past — 
Here flying loosely as the mane 

Of a young war-horse in the blast ; 
There, rolled in masses dark and swelling, 
As proud to be the lightning's dwelling I 
While some, already burst and riven, 
Seem melting down the verge of hea.ven ; 
As though the infant Storm had rent 

The mighty womb that gave him birth, 
And, having swept the firmament, 

Was now in fierce career for earth.' 

" The topsails were now close-reefed ; the courses were, 
however, still kept set, but the larboard bumkin having 
snapped, the fore-yard went in the slings, and the sail was 
blown away from the broken yard ; the other sails were 
instantly reduced. Soon after this, every thing was made 
snug aloft, and the ship brought to under a close-reefed 
main-topsail; an endeavor was made to set the fore-staysail, 
but it blew to ribbons ; and shortly after, in a tremendous 
puflT, the main-topsail shared the same fortune. 

" It was now that doubt gave place to certainty : the hur- 
ricane, in all its awfulness, had truly set in ; the seas, rising 
in proportion as the wind increased, began to lash their 
white heads, and to strike the ship with a force that made 
her quiver in every plank. 

"Having arranged what was necessary upon deck, the 
portion of the crew that were not employed at the pumps 



250 A SHIP OF THE I.INE IN A HURRICANE. 

were sent down to secure the guns, those fearful append- 
ages to the sides of a ship during storms ; and the hatches 
were battened down. 

"As long as the masts maintained their positions^we ex- 
pected that our gigantic vessel, though tossed about in a 
very rough manner, would be the better enabled to struggle 
with the elements, and acquit herself well ; but our hopes 
and wishes on this head were short-lived. An hour before 
noon, the wind increased to such a degree, that the main- 
topmast was literally blown away, as if it had been a mere 
straw or a feather ; and shortly after, the fore-topmast fol- 
lowed, close to the cap. At this time, the wind was raging 
with the most appalling force, and the appearance of the 
clouds, and the lofty breaking seas, such as no language is 
adequate to describe. 

' The sea, 
Now fiercer grown, raved with tremendous wrath; 
And every blast that shook the elements 
Seemed like the blast portentous of m.an's doom.' 

" There was a compactness in the dense clouds, which 
were of a murky, cinereous color, approaching to black, en- 
veloping the whole heavens, that effectually shut out every 
ray of light, and gave to the picture that peculiar wildness 
of feature, which may be described as one of the character- 
istic touches of a hurricane. And, although the wind gen- 
erally drove forcibly onwards in an oblique direction, yet, at 
times, when at its highest degree of vehemence, it seemed 
to gyrate or repercuss upon itself with a sound resembling 
the smacking of a thousand cart whips. This singular prop- 
erty of the aerial current I noticed whilst sitting down 
(when not descending to or ascending from the lower deck) 
silently, under shelter before the captain's cabin, contem- 
plating the awful and impressive scene. At such times, 
none of the few persons on deck were allowed to move 
from under cover of the weather bulwark ; there they sat, 
mute spectators of the havock which the warring elements 
were making upon the noble vessel, and silent listeners of 
the cheers which now and then issued from their gallant 
shipmates at the pumps. 

" The ship rolled and labored in a manner dreadful to 



THE BEST BOWER-ANCHOR IS CUT AWAY. 251 

behold, and her weather lurches were often so violent and 
sudden, that it was wonderful how the lower masts con- 
tinued to stand ; and the ponderous metal ! (long 24's and 
32's) which at every minute or two were almost vertically 
suspended. One gun only broke adrift, passing through 
the sick-bay bulk-head, and swinging across the breech of 
the opposite gun, where it was securely lashed. 

" Another source of anxiety was, the heavy seas that 
mcessantly broke over the ship, and the quantity of water 
which, although the hatches were well secured, found its 
way into the lower deck. To admit this water to reach the 
well, it was absolutely necessary to scuttle the lower deck ; 
and to add to our distress, the leak from below was found 
to increase, notwithstanding the unwearied efforts of our 
noble fellows to surmount it. 

" The best bower-cable having been bent in readiness for 
anchoring at Barbadoes, the anchor, during the storm, was 
watched as rather a dangerous appendage, although on 
another occasion it would have been viewed with quite a 
contrary feeling ; men, however, were stationed with axes 
at the manger-board, in readiness to cut the cable, should 
such be found necessary ; the anchor did break its lashings, 
and a forecastleman, applying his head to the scuttle, gave 
the alarm to those below; the cable was cut and the anchor 
gone before it had time to strike the bow, and the alarming 
circumstance was not known to the captain until the pon- 
derous mass had descended some hundreds of fathoms: its 
disappearance afforded the greatest satisfaction. 

"At half past eleven, I conveyed the unwelcome intelli- 
gence from the carpenter to the captain, that the leak was 
fast increasing ; the quantity of water rushing in amounting 
to six feet an hour ! Every spare hand was immediately 
sent down to the pumps, where the fine body of marines 
were exerting themselves in the most praiseworthy manner : 
these men were altogether the most perfect company of that 
useful branch of our naval service that I have ever seen, and 
men in all respects an honor to it, as they were assuredly to 
their country. 

" The lower deck, at this time, presented a scene such as 
no person, who has not witnessed a similar case, can picture 
to himself: the air, being deprived in a great measure of its 



252 A SHIP OF THE LINE IN A HURRICANE. 

oxygen, by the inhalation of such a multitude, and a want 
of free circulation, was almost suffocating to those who de- 
scended, as they were obliged to do suddenly, by means of 
man-ropes, (all the ladders being unshipped, from the violent 
and continued motion of the ship,) from the fresh air they 
had been breathing on the upper decks ; but it is singular 
that those who were below for some time did not complain 
of a similar inconvenience from the foulness of the air ; the 
heat, however, was alike oppressive to all, and the men had 
thrown off all their clothes but their trousers. 

^' The water, which had found its way through the seams, 
and up the pumps, was dashed from side to side, according 
to the inclination of the vessel, and with it were carried 
various articles which had not been properly secured. 

" Yery few individuals succeeded in obtaining more than 
a ^QW minutes' sleep during the continuance of the hurri- 
cane : on the deck I am speaking of, there was no ' pricking 
for the softest plank;' these were under water. The captain, 
whose ^aid' I had the honor to be, taking compassion upon 
me, I suppose, after I had nearly been beaten to a mummy 
in my various slippery trips down to the lower deck, to con- 
vey his orders, and to learn hov/ things were going on there, 
desired me to go down to rest, if I could, and to send an- 
other mid up. I was not long in descending, for, in truth, 
my eyelids had become so ' heavy,' that I should have com- 
mitted a breach of discipline by falhng asleep without his 
order, if I had remained ten minutes longer upon deck. 
When I had reached below, I waded and floundered 
amongst the chests, benches, hammocks, &c., until I had 
gained the mess-table in the gun-room ; this was lashed 
amidships, between the transom cabins; in one of which 
Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Kenah* lay asleep, with the 
water flowing over his cot. When I reached the table, I 
found it already occupied by some of the mids, lashed over 
all, who were snoring away in concert with the roar of the 
tempest, whilst the water, as it was tossed by the violent 
motion of the ship, every now and then dashed over their 
inanimate bodies. ' Happy fellows ! ' thought I at the mo- 

* This estimable man, and excellent, brave officer, after greatly distin- 
guishing himself in India, under Sir C. Cole, was unfortunately killed 
by the Americans, when in command of H. M. S. iEtna. 



PRAISEWORTHY EXERTIONS OF THE MEN. 253 

ment ; 'I envy your perfect state of repose, and I will try to 
imitate your example.' Calling one of the men to my aid, I 
edged in, holding on by the ropes, until a turn or two was 
passed round me and made fast. I had scarcely adjusted 
myself ere I was sound asleep ; but my slumbers were soon 
interrupted, for an unlucky weather lurch broke our moor- 
ings, and pitched table, mids, and all, fairly into the worthy 
lieutenant's cot, which, breaking down with the heavy weight, 
nearly smothered us and him also ; in truth, it was no easy 
matter to get extricated from this corner ; as it was, most of 
us were severely bruised. We were also in a sad hungry 
state ; there was no cooking, and, except the shadow of a 
weevly biscuit, nothing could be got at. I recollect an 
animated scramble taking place for a salt-beef bone, which 
one of the mates had, whilst foraging, fished out from the 
ruins of the mess cupboard under water, but which had 
slipped from his hands into it again. These trivial circum- 
stances may serve to show the deplorable state to which we 
were reduced. 

^' Incessant bodily labor, want of rest, food, and some 
stimulating beverage, had now impaired the strength of the 
men ; yet their spirits were as buoyant as ever, for they were 
sensible that, under Providence, the safety of the ship and 
all on board depended upon their exertions. The captain 
and officers gave up the liquors that belonged to them, 
which, being served out, at intervals, in small quantities to 
the men, gave these fine fellows additional vigor. Their 
exertions were almost incredible ; and I am satisfied that 
none of the surviving officers ever revert to the subject 
"without feelings of the livehest satisfaction, admiration, and 
gratitude. With the exception of the cheering, which was 
absolutely necessary, there was no noise, no confusion, and 
not a murmur ever escaped them, at the extreme bodily 
exertion required to work the chain-pumps, and under the 
privations mentioned : every point of duty was performed 
consonant with the best system of discipline, and with the 
most ready and cheerful obedience to the commands of the 
officers : their conduct might be equalled, but never sur- 
passed, not even by the Alceste's. 

" There were a great many men, unfortunately, on the 
sick-list J their condition was wretched in the extreme, con- 
22 



254 A SHIP OF THE LINE IN A HURRICANE, 

fined as they were to the cable tiers ; every thing, however, 
that could be suggested for alleviating their situation, was 
done by the humanity and attention of the surgeon, who, 
being without an assistant, had to perform the duty himself. 

"As the midday approached, the motions of the ship be- 
came so violent, that apprehension was entertained of the 
immediate fall of the masts ; very near noon, this appre- 
hension was realized ; the mainmast went over the side with 
a tremendous crash, without touching the bulwark 1 An 
idea may be formed, from this circumstance, of the position 
of the ship at this awful moment : the weighty stick was 
sprung on the weather lurch, and tumbled headlong into the 
sea, at the moment the ship had reached her greatest incli- 
nation to leeward, when the ivholc of the starboard bulwarks 
were under water ! 

*' Shortly after, the mizzenmast followed, breaking in three 
pieces, the middle part falling upon deck ; the two cutters 
were also lost, and the arm and signal chests smashed in 
pieces. At this moment, part of an enormous wave came 
with full force against the after part of the ship, and made 
a clear sweep over the poop-deck, carrying away the cap- 
tain's gig and the lantern, and making every timber quake. 
The portion of this sea which passed astern, was much higher 
than the ship's hull abaft. 

" I observed, when looking to leeward, that some of the 
waves, when pressed by others in hasty succession, curled 
over to windward, with a round, frothy top, which suddenly 
gave way, and the whole body of whitened water came 
down at once ; in general, however, they doubled over, and 
ran forward with a sort of jumping motion, gradually, but 
still rapidly, forming a deep concavity, which, when it had 
reached its utmost depression, began again to swell up, and 
so on in succession. 

''AH now upon deck was a scene of active bustle and 
emulation. The recollection is heart-stirring. The disregard 
of personal danger, in the noble efforts of the noble fellows 
to clear the wreck now endangering the ship, and amid the 
appalling scene of desolation that surrounded them, the 
deafening fury of the wind, and the lofty foaming of the 
rushing waves — in truth beggars description. The uplifted 
axe, the shining tomahawk, and the handy knife, were 



THE EXPLOITS OF HECTOR MOORE. 255 

wielded and applied in all directions ; the adventurous band 
often overwhelmed by the surging billows which, now as the 
vessel's motion increased, broke over her with unrelenting 
turbulence. 

"I cannot forbear mentioning one of these brave men, 
(who, I dare say, will not yet have been forgotten by some 
of the survivors.) His name was Hector Moore, a Caledo- 
nian — meet child of that poetic land — tall, bony, and 
powerful, with a countenance as serene and calm, amid the 
war of elements, as the most impassive judge ever wore. 
This worthy Scot's exertions were conspicuous among those 
made by the little band, and he was the admiration and 
praise of those officers who witnessed his exploits : it was 
he, too, who had cut the cable, and rid us of the anchor. 
Where art thou now, poor Hector Moore ? Gone, perhaps, 
to the land of spirits! — Peace be to thy undaunted soul! — ■ 
I shall never forget thy doings on this memorable day. 

" It is in the hour of need and peril (as has been re- 
marked, over and over again) that the able and orderly 
seaman is known, and best seen to advantage ; and it is at 
such times, that that daring spirit, the noble characteristic 
of the sons of Britain, shines with peculiar splendor, sur- 
mounting obstacles which often appear impossible to be 
overcome. 

" Having cut away the wreck, and seen it clear of the 
ship, the few men that performed this duty were sent down 
to the pumps ; for the leak was increasing, and there was no 
abatement of the hurricane. 

" Our perilous situation, as time advanced, became more 
and more apparent ; the men could not possibly hold out 
much longer, and, as every hour lessened their strength, so 
the water must increase ; and it was estimated that in twenty- 
four hours our fate would be decided ! Under these circum- 
stances, the officers came to the determination of offijring to 
take their turn at the pumps ; but this the captain, although 
fully appreciating their motive, would not allow, unless the 
men displayed symptoms of drooping. It must be observed 
that the crew were ignorant of the progressive increase of 
the leak, which had now reached to eight feet an hour 1 
This was certainly a wise precaution, and, indeed, under 
similar circumstances, is generally followed ; for, although I 



256 A SHIP OF THE LINE IN A HURRICANE. 

do not believe that the fact, if known to them, would have 
caused any feeling like despair, yet it might have created an 
alarm, and have given rise to serious consequences : the 
same motive, no doubt, influenced the commander in not 
immediately yielding to the offer of the officers. Every 
mode that could be devised to cheer and encourage the 
efforts of the men, was resorted to ; but in no one instance 
was there the slightest occasion for enforcing order ; every 
individual did his duty cheerfully. 

" Thus were we situated, looking forward with anxiety to 
the period which was to determine whether we should sink 
or swim ! On the gloomy side of the question, this could 
not be far distant ; and whether the other would ever arrive 
to us, could only be hoped and devoutly prayed for : the 
latter, happily, soon became apparent. At 4, P. M., the 
clouds began to break ; a spot of the heavenly blue here and 
there was seen, and gazed at with that sort of intense satis- 
faction with which the warrant of reprieve may be supposed 
to affect the unhappy wretch who had been condemned to 
die. And the wind, too, that mysterious power, the source 
of all our disquiet, began, in a slight degree, to decrease. 
The relief to the mind which this change afforded, can 
better be conceived than described. 

" More, perhaps, with the intent of cheering the men, 
than with any expectation of succeeding in the attempt, an 
order was given from the quarter-deck, for some of the men 
to come up and ' make sail ! ' It is doubtful if ever these 
spirit-stirring words, ay, even to chase, were ever before 
received with more joy and exultation by a crew ; the 
cheers that followed would almost have put new life into 
a dying seaman ; they were delightful to hear, and electric 
in effect. 

" The sheet of the fore-storm-staysail was hauled aft, and 
the sail attempted to be hoisted from the main-bitts to the 
stump of the mizzenmast ; it blew instantly into ribbons, as 
if to mock our joy ; nevertheless, the few hands who had 
come up were kep-t on deck, that our failure might not check 
the rising spirits of those at the pumps. 

"At half past 6 in the evening, the scud began to drive 
fast, and the weather became clearer, when one of the look- 
out men announced, ' A large ship coming right down upon 




I 



'i 



NARROW ESCAPE FROM BEING RUN DOWN. 259 

US ! ' Every body sprang from under the bulwark, and 
looked to windward. 

" On the quarter (to the S. E.) a large vessel was indis- 
tinctly seen scudding, (wind S. S. W.) and in a moment or 
two after, she dashed close past the stern, with a proximity 
and rapidity that were startling ; she was soon lost to view 
in the gloom to leeward. We had just time to observe that 
her fore-topmast was gone, and from her great size we con- 
jectured her to be the St. George, and were extremely happy 
to find her still buoyant, as, from her leaky state, we had 
been indulging (and, indeed, continued to do so afterwards) 
the most gloomy apprehensions for her safety ; and we found 
out subsequently, when again meeting at Halifax, that these 
feelings had been reciprocally entertained ; they, on passing 
us, thought it impossible that we could weather out the 
storm. This was another imminent danger most provi- 
dentially averted ; had it been an hour later, or indeed had 
hot the weather cleared up as it did just at the time, so as 
to admit of the St. George's steersmen catching a momen- 
tary gUmpse of our ship, and avoiding contact, by putting 
the wheel a spoke to port, both ships, in all probability, would 
have been ingulfed in the ocean ; the Centaur undoubtedly 
must have gone down from the shock ! 

" The news of the St. George being safe, and the hurri- 
cane breaking, was soon conveyed to the men at the pumps, 
and they testified their joy and heart-felt delight by repeated 
cheers ; and although, as may be supposed, their strength 
must have been greatly lessened from incessant labor, want 
of rest, &,c., yet I believe truly, that there was more water 
discharged at this time than at any preceding period ; such 
influence have the animal spirits upon the physical powers 
of the body. 

" Night was now approaching, and as it was not possible 
to ascertain the relative positions of the other vessels, it was 
not without a reasonable degree of anxiety that we contem- 
plated the possibility of one or other of these running us 
down. The near realization of such a catastrophe which 
we had just escaped, rather added to our disquiet ; and it 
was impossible not to be impressed with the conviction, 
notwithstanding the height of the hurricane seemed to have 
past, that, unless some of our consorts should be at hand in 



260 A SHIP OF THE LINE IN A HURRICANE. 

the morning to afford us aid, there was no other prospect of 
our being able to keep the ship afloat. In such a forlorn 
hope, the mercy of Providence alone could save us by the 
intervention of some unlooked-for succor; and to this 'sheet 
anchor ' of the Christian we clung. 

"At 8 in the evening, the wind, although still blow- 
ing violently, had evidently lessened, and the clouds were 
moving in rapid succession ; but the motion of the ship 
rather increased, as did the leak, now exceeding rather 
more than eight feet an hour ; happily, however, the men 
still continued their labor, which was almost superhuman ; 
indeed, an ordinary ship's company could never have gone 
through the fatigue, attended by the privations, which these 
noble fellows underwent. They were a picked crew — the 
same gallant spirits who had performed so many deeds of 
daring under that ornament to the service, the late Sir 
Samuel Hood. 

^' The night was pitchy dark, and the ^ ivhipping smacks^ 
of the furious wind sounded in our ears as the wail of the 
death-note ; every hour seemed an age ; and the minds of 
those who were left for a short time to the quiet indulgence 
of their own thoughts, if these could be defined, dwelt per- 
haps upon 

' That tender farewell on the shore 
Of this rude world, when all is o'er, 
Which cheers the spirit, ere its bark 
Puts off into the unknown dark.' 

" The dawn of day, on the 30th, at last arrived, and pre- 
pared objects for our sight that were hailed with indescriba- 
ble delight. The Eagle and Atlas were seen to windward ! 
It is impossible to convey to the minds of those persons who 
have not been placed in a situation of such extreme peril, 
the delight with which this intelligence was received by the 
almost worn-out crew. 

"Our situation, as must be obvious to the seaman, was 
not immediately bettered by the lessening of the wind ; for 
not until the sea went down also, could we build upon our 
safety ; and before that consummation, so devoutly wished, 
should arrive, the men, perhaps, might give way from sheer 
exhaustion ; and then our fate would speedily have been 



THE SHIP IS TOWED INTO HALIFAX. 261 

sealed, as, no doubt, that of many others has been under 
similar circumstances ; but it pleased Heaven to ordain it 
otherwise : both wind and sea gradually subsided, and the 
timely assistance derived from the Eagle saved us. It 
was the consciousness of this, coupled with the personal 
exertions of the excellent captain, his officers, and men, 
that so endeared that ship, and all on board, to our officers 
and crew. 

" The two ships had lost their topmasts and sprung their 
lower masts, and were otherwise damaged ; but none of the 
squadron were so shattered as the Centaur : she was an un- 
wieldy, though beautiful ship, of great length, carrying heavy 
metal, and had been considerably shaken when she had been 
aground. 

" We were towed to Halifax, N. S., by the Eagle, where 
we arrived on the 15th of August; and thus all our fair 
prospects of reaping glory with Lord Nelson were blasted 
by this unlucky hurricane. We lost our station in the line 
at Trafalgar, for which no subsequent good luck could pos- 
sibly compensate. 

" For the safety of the ship, it was found necessary to 
heave many of the guns overboard, and the ship's bottom 
was bothered with a thrumbed sail, which greatly lessened 
the leak. In conclusion, I may state, that all the officers 
and crew attended divine service at church, where prayers 
were offered up to God for our deliverance. 

*''The lieutenants of the ship were — R. Campbell, R. 
Kenah, W. Croker, W. Brown, T. Smith, and W. H. 
Dickson." 




SOME PARTICULARS 



RESPECTING 



A JAPANESE VESSEL 




Which reached Woahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands, 
after heing blown off the Coast of Japan, and drift- 
ing on the Ocean nearly a Year. 

APTAIN BRUCE, of H. B. M. ship Imo- 
geiie, presented to the United Service 
Institution in London, in April, 1840, a 
large grapnel, belonging to a Japanese 
boat, which was blown off the coast in a 
typhoon ; and after drifting on the ocean 
during eleven months and a half, she for- 
tunately reached Whyarua, in Woahoo, December, 1832. 
For the last three months, they had been without water : they 
had a large supply of rice, it being the principal part of the 
cargo; and they allayed their thirst by washing their mouths 
and soaking their bodies in salt water. They thus preserved 
their lives, although their bodies were dreadfully excoriated, 
from the action of the salt water, resembling the rough side 
of pickled tripe. The natural freshness of the rice mainly 
tended towards their preservation. The vessel was about 
seventy tons' burden, with one very large mast amidships, a 
smaller one on the stem-head, and a still smaller one abaft on 
the tafferel ; her sails were all worn out but the one on the 
large mast, which was very much dilapidated. It was of a 
quadrangular shape, extended aloft by a yard, the braces of 
vvhich worked forwards ; three pieces of black cloth came 
half way down the sail, at an equal distance from each other. 
She was higher at the stem and stern than in the middle, and 
had curiously carved work on her bow and stern ; she was very 
strongly built, and fastened with flat, wedge-shaped nails ; 
she had five anchors or grapnels, one of which was brought 
to England by Captain Bruce, and presented to the institu- 
tion. The crew could not converse with the Chinese, but 



A SKETCH OF JAPAN. 263 

understood most of their written characters. The unfor- 
tunate men, who belonged to Osaeca, which is the most 
considerable seaport of Japan, were treated with humanity 
by the Chinese, and subsequently obtained a passage to 
their native land. This extensive country, situated in the 
most eastern part of Asia, was discovered by some Portu- 
guese, in 1542, who were cast on shore by a tempest. It 
consists of three large and many lesser islands. The larger 
of the two islands is Japan itself, usually called by the na- 
tives Niphon. The next in extent is Ximo, and the smaller 
of the three is Xicoco, situate between the former two, 
Niphon is surrounded by craggy rocks, — the greatest secu- 
rity of the empire from foreign invasions, — which are so 
high and inaccessible, that, when seen at sea from a distance, 
the whole appears as one immense rock. 

" A rock that braves 
The raging- tempest and the rising waves, 
Self- propped it seems to stand. Its solid sides 
Keep off the sea-weeds and the sounding tides." 

The soil is rocky and rather barren ; but through the in- 
dustry of the natives it has been greatly improved, and the 
very rocks produce plants and fruits in abundance. 

Though the breezes from the sea tend to moderate the 
summer's heat, they add to the intenseness of the winter's 
cold, and render the seasons more uncertain here than in 
any other parts of the Indies. Dreadful storms and hurri- 
canes, and tremendous thunder and lightning, are also com- 
mon here, to the great alarm and injury of the natives. 
It was during one of these terrible tempests that these un- 
fortunate men were blown off the coast ; and after drifting 
at the mercy of the winds and currents almost a whole year, 
they luckily reached land : their sufferings, during this long 
period, were probably more severe than were ever experi- 
enced by any other crew on the ocean. The vessel's com- 
pany originally consisted of six : one died during the pas- 
sage , he was dressed in his best clothes, and then wrapped 
up in matting, within which were put some gums, spices, and 
money, and the whole securely bound round with coir rope, 
and to the corpse was affixed one of the grapnels ; after the 
ceremony of singing over it, they committed it to the deep. 



EIGHT DAYS ON BOARD OF A BURNING SHIP; 

BEING 

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE OFFICERS AND CREW 

OF THE 

BARQUE BURLINGTON, 

Which was struck by Lightning and burnt in the 
Atlantic Ocean, March, 1810. 

N the 10th of March, 1840, the barque 
Burlington, of Boston, Captain Hallet, 
bound from New Orleans to Havre, was 
struck by lightning, in lat. 36° 40' N., 
and long. 56° W. We introduce the 
graphic extracts from the ship's log-book, 
kept by the mate, Mr. John Girdler, with 
the following remarks of Captain Sleeper. 

" The situation of these men on board the Burlington 
was not an enviable one. They stood, as it were, on the 
summit of a volcano, which was raging beneath them, and 
threatening at each moment to burst out with uncontrollable 
fury. They were cold, wet, and uncomfortable, during a 
great part of this time, and exhausted by their labors to ex- 
tinguish or stifle the fire. The carbonic acid gas, which 
generated in large quantities, drove them from the cabin, 
and they had no place of refuge beneath the deck. During 
these few days, they were visited by several dreadful gales, 
at which times it happened providentially that the fire, did 
not break out, for no hoat could have lived during such 
weather as they experienced ; and when the whole interior 
of the vessel was, as it were, a mass of fire, which it became 
evident was about to burst through the deck, the weather 
moderated ; a ship hove in sight, steering directly towards 
them, took them off, and in a few hours afterwards the 




THE BURLINGTON STRUCK WITH LIGHTNING. 265 

barque was burnt down to the water's edge and sunk ! 
The captain, officers, and crew, ought to feel deeply grateful 
for the aid which was afforded them by the Divine Power in 
this trying hour. They appear to have exhibited a degree 
of coolness, intrepidity, and wisdom, during the circum- 
stances which attended the loss of the barque, which reflect 
honor on the American character, and must command the 
admiration of all who can conceive the perilous situation in 
which they were placed. The extracts from the log-book 
are written in plain but forcible language, and convey a 
graphic sketch of an extraordinary event, which cannot be 
read without emotion." 

^^ Tuesday, March 10, 1840. Commences with fresh 
southerly breezes and passing clouds ; a brig in company. 
At 2, P. M., took in topgallantsails. At 6, blowing fresh, 
double-reefed the topsails, reefed mainsail, sent down royal- 
yards, &c. At 7, very sharp lightning in the south-west ; 
close-reefed the topsails, drew the pump spears, unshipped 
the bolts, and stopped up the pumps with wet swabs. At 
half past 9, were struck by a flash of lightning, which came 
down the larboard main-topsail-sheet, and passed down the 
larboard pump, knocked down the second officer and all the 
watch, except the man at the wheel. All hands were turned 
up to examine the ship, but we could not perceive that any 
injury had been done. But at a quarter past 12, A. M., we 
discovered that the ship was on fire, by the smoke issuing 
from the booby-hatch and forecastle. We cut a hole in the 
coat of the mainmast, and found all on fire on the larboard 
side. Hauled up courses and wore ship to the W. S. W., 
bored a hole with a large auger, and found all on fire below. 
After pouring down a large quantity of water, and finding 
the decks getting hotter and hotter, thought it best to en- 
deavor to smother it; stopped up every place through which 
the air could communicate, and commenced clearing away 
the boats, putting on board of them provisions, water, &c. 
At 8, A. M., got out the boats; the yawl filled while lower- 
ing her into the water ; the third mate and part of the crew 
got into the long-boat ; veered her away under the lee of 
the ship by a hawser. At 10, A. M., expecting the flames 
would burst out every instant, hauled the boat up under the 
stern, and all hands lowered themselves into the boat by 
23 



266 EIGHT DAYS IN A BURNING SHIP. 

the davit falls ; dropped astern of the ship, and commenced 
fitting waist-cloths for the boat. This day ends with strong 
gales from the S. S. W. and a heavy sea, with thunder and 
lightning. Lat. 37° 08' N., long. 54° 40^ 

" Wednesday, March 11. Commences with strong gales, 
but moderating. At 2, P. M., hauled the boat alongside, 
under the lee of the ship, and got on board. Found that 
the fire was somewhat smothered, as the decks were not so 
hot as when we got into the boat. Left some hands in the 
long-boat to keep her safe, and all the rest turned to, to en- 
deavor to save the ship. We commenced boring holes in 
the hottest parts of the deck, and after pouring down some 
seventy or eighty buckets of water, plugged up the holes, 
and bored in other places. We soon found the deck and 
waist getting cooler; and as so much smoke did not come 
up as before, we began to entertain hopes of being able to 
keep the fire under, until we should be able to reach some 
port ; and from the way we have got the wind, we think it 
will be best to endeavor to reach a southern port in the 
United States ; or, if finally obliged to quit the ship, we 
shall stand a better chance of being picked up by some 
vessel. At 10, P. M., hoisted in the boats, let out the 
reefs, and steered N. W. by N. Rigged the starboard 
pump, and commenced pumping up and pouring down 
water through the auger-holes. The first water we pumped 
up was more than blood warm, but it soon became cooler. 
Midnight; moderate and cloudy. Let one watch lie down, 
whilst the other was employed in pasting up every vent-hole 
below. At 4, A. M., every crack and hole was covered 
over with paste, paper, and sails, and the decks were grow- 
ing cooler; still employed in pouring down water. At 10, 
A. M., strong breezes ; double-reefed the topsails. The 
forecastle being all pasted up and covered over, the crew, 
being unable to get at their chests, have no clothing but 
what they stood in when the alarm of fire was given ; 
several have no jackets or hats. We supplied them as well 
as we could from the cabin. Latter part, strong gales ; but 
we are in hopes to succeed in our plan of stifling the fire. 
Lat. 38° 00^ long. 55° 54'. 

" Thursday, March 12. Commences with strong gales 
from the S. S. W. All hands still employed in pumping 



GREAT EFFORTS TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. 26T 

up and throwing down water, securing the long-boat, &c. 
At 7, P. M., hove to, with violent squalls, heavy rains, and 
incessant and terrific thunder and lightning. At midnight, 
wind shifted to westward, and moderated some ; set foresail 
and reefed spanker. Decks still continue hot, and every 
time we take out a plug to pour down water through a 
tunnel, smoke, steam, and gas, rush up. At 4, P. M., 
more moderate, and made more sail. Latter part, strong 
breezes from the N. W., and pleasant. Decks continue 
hot, but we are in hopes that our plan of smothering the 
fire will succeed. We got another mast coat fitted round 
the foremast, and are preparing one for the n>ainmast. A 
part of the crew are watching all the cracks about the 
hatchways, companions, scuttles, &c., and are ready to 
stop up the seams whenever the smoke may issue forth. 
Lat. 38^ 56' N., long. 56° 45'. 

^^ Friday, March 13. Commences with fresh breezes 
from the N. W., and pleasant weather. Wind hauling 
to the northward, at 5, P. M., wore ship to the westward. 
At sunset, saw a ship about eight miles oflf. At 8, P. M., 
calm, and pumped out the ship dry. By keeping a blanket, 
soaking wet, around the coat of the mainmast, it is kept 
considerably cool, but by putting a finger down the holes, 
it is as hot as can be borne. Latter part, moderate breezes 
from S. E., and cloudy. Heat below, about the same. Two 
brigs passed us between 10, A. M., and 12, M. 

" Saturday, March 14. Commences with moderate 
breezes, gradually increasing, from S. S. E. At 7, P. M., 
it increased to a violent gale, and the lightning was terrific, 
barometer falling in a remarkable manner. At 10, P. M., 
wind S. S. W., blowing heavy, hove to under close-reefed 
maintopsail. At half past 4, A. M., a dreadful gale from 
S. S. W. ; shipped a sea which nearly filled the cabin and 
state-rooms with water. Found the smell of smoke coming 
up from below. After searching about some time, (it being 
very dark,) found the coat of the mizzenmast ripped up ; 
secured it as soon as possible. At 8, A. M., it blew a hur- 
ricane from N. W. ; barometer having fallen two inches. 
Latter part, lying to under bare poles. We are now in 
great distress, our store-room being filled with water, pro- 
visions all wet, and all our clothing and bedding soaked in 



268 EIGHT DAYS IN A BURNING SHIP. 

water. The ship has strained two butts open, near where 
the fire broke out; calked them tight. The heat below, ap- 
parently about the same. Lat. 40° 27', long. 58° IT. 

^'Sunday, March 15. Commences with a perfect hurri- 
cane from N. W. ; ship lying to under bare poles. At 4, 
A. M., wore ship to the westward, and made some sail. 
Find that the fire has gained on us a good deal ; poured 
down more water, and kept off the wind at 8, A. M., to 
free the ship. Found a good deal of water in her ; mast 
coat very hot, and large quantities of smoke coming up the 
holes. Latter part, heavy gales from N. W., with severe 
snow and hail squalls ; the fire below still burning, and not 
able to extinguish it, and a very heavy sea running, Lat. 
40° &, long. 57° 25'. 

Monday, March 16. Strong gales from N. W., and 
heavy squalls. From meridian till 5, P. M., all hands em- 
ployed in pumping up, drawing, and pouring down water 
on the fire. At 6, P. M., smoke not rising quite so fast, 
nor the steam so hot, made more sail. Moderate during 
the night ; and continued to pour down water at intervals. 
There has been more gas in the cabin to-night than at any 
time yet. Several of the crew were so badly aflfected by 
it, that they could with difficulty keep from fainting. At 
10, A. M., a violent gale from the westward, and pleasant 
weather; under close-reefed maintopsail and foresail. The 
heat below appeared to have abated somewhat since yester- 
day. Captain Hallet lay down (in the cabin) at 1, A. M., 
and on calling him at 4, A. M., he was nearly dead, (by in- 
hahng the gas,) and fell down as soon as he came on deck. 
Lat. 40° 2r, long. 58° 42'. 

" Tuesday, March 17. Commences with strong gales 
from the west, and clear weather. At 1, P. M., it blew a 
complete hurricane from N. W., and blew away the close- 
reefed main-topsail. The mainmast works a good deal ; and 
suppose that the wedges must have burnt out and dropped 
down. The seams and butts of the deck are all opening on 
the larboard side, from the after part of the main to the for- 
ward part of the fore-rigging. All hands employed in pour- 
ing down water, making plugs, and boring new holes, &c. 
Middle part, more moderate ; the cabin again filled with gas, 
which prevents us from closing the doors or windows. The 



THE CREW ARE RESCUED BY THE SHIP ST. JAMES. 269 

smoke is now getting the upper hand of us again, and our 
prospect seems dismal enough. At 10, A. M., saw a sail 
to windward, bearing down towards us ; hove to, and hoisted 
our colors in the mizzen-rigging, union down. Latter part, 
light N. E. breezes, and fine weather. Lat. 40° 13', long. 
55° 40^ 

" Wednesday/, March 18. Commences with pleasant 
breezes from N. E. and clear weather. At 3, P. M., the 
ship to windward spoke us; she proved to be the St. James, 
Captain William Sebor, from London for New York. She 
immediately hove to, near us, and got out her boats ; we got 
out our small boat, and commenced putting in those of our 
effects which were at hand, intending to leave the ship to 
her fate, as the fire had now got complete possession of her. 
Took off the booby-hatch, to endeavor to save some of the 
stores and sails that were underneath ; but were obliged to 
put it on again, as the heat and smoke were truly suffocating. 
We opened the forecastle, and endeavored to save the chests 
of the crew, but found it impossible to descend into the fore- 
castle ; hooked up three of the chests with a boat-hook, and 
nearly lost one of the men, who persisted in going down. 
We hauled him up in a state of insanity. At 6, P. M., 
Captain Hallett left the ship in the last boat ; the fire then 
blazing up ten or twelve feet above the decks. At half past 
6, P. M., all hands safe on board the good ship St. James, 
where we were received and treated with the greatest kind- 
ness and humanity by Captain Sebor and his oflScers. Some 
of us have lost all, and some of us have saved part of our 
clothes. At 8, P. M., the ship was completely in flames. 
We could see with the night-glass, that the mainmast had 
fallen over the starboard side, and the mizzenmast was over 
the stern ; the foremast and bowsprit still standing, but all 
on fire, we being about six miles off. At 10, P. M., the fire 
suddenly disappeared, and the unfortunate Burlington, at 
that time, probably sank." 

The officers and crew were all subsequently landed in the 
city of New York in safety. 
23* 



SHIPWRECK 

OF THE 

PORTUGUESE ADMIRAL, 

FERNANDO DE MENDOZA, 

ON THE 

BASSAS DE JUIDA, 

IN THE INDIAN OCEAN; 

With the affecting Proceedings of Two Brothers. 




T a very early period, the Portuguese 
acquired rich and extensive posses- 
sions in the East Indies. Fleets, 
laden with the most valuable com- 
modities, periodically sailed to the 
mother country ; and the advantages 
arising from a lucrative traffic led 
to the foundation of new and im- 
portant colonies, equally productive as those originally 
established. But this perpetual intercourse was not ex- 
empt from the calamities resulting from the uncertainties 
of the sea, of which the following narrative may serve as 
an example. 

Letters to the viceroy and archbishop of Goa arrived in 
May, 1586, communicating the loss of the admiral's ship, 
St. Jago, on the Bassas de India, an extensive shoal in the 
Indian Ocean. 

The ship sailed from Portugal in 1585, and made a pros- 
perous voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to 
the vicinity of Mosambique ; when the crew, thinking they 
had nothing to dread, grew regardless of danger. Yet the 
master, and others having rule, ought always to keep the 
strictest watch, and distrust their own judgment ; otherwise, 



THE SHIP STRIKES ON A CORAL ROCK. 271 

as in this case, fatal accidents may ensue. The St. Jago 
approached near the latitude of 22*^ 30', under which He 
the Bassas de India, between the island of Madagascar and 
the continent of Soffala, shoals consisting chiefly of black, 
white, and green coral, which are extremely dangerous ; 
and pilots would do well to shun them. The ship having 
got between Madagascar and Mosambique, the pilot took 
an observation, by which he judged her past the shoals, and 
ordered the master to make all sail for Mosambique. But 
there were various seamen on board, who, as well as the 
officers, thinking it was prudent to stand off* and on during 
the night, gave their counsel, that a good lookout should be 
kept ; because they suspected that they were not yet past 
the shoals. However, the pilot, resolving both to maintain 
his own skill and to show his power, advanced the reverse, 
and refused to listen to any of their suggestions. It is 
necessary to observe, that, by the king's express command, 
the pilots of Portuguese East Indiamen are invested with an 
absolute control of the navigation, and the ship is commit- 
ted to their charge alone. But the later regulations of other 
countries dispense with having an officer of that particular 
description constantly on board. 

The pilot, thus obstinately adhering to his own opinion, 
ordered all sail to be set ; and the ship continued her course 
until midnight, with fair weather, but no moon, when she 
struck on a sharp coral rock. The mainmast immediately 
came over, and with the beating of the sea, the vessel soon 
parted. A dreadful cry was heard throughout the wreck, 
and great lamentation among the people. There were at 
least five hundred persons on board, among whom were 
thirty women and many Jesuits and priests : nothing was to 
be seen, but every one bidding another farewell, and asking 
forgiveness of offences. 

The admiral, Fernando de Mendoza, with the master, 
pilot, and ten or twelve more, got into the pinnace, and, 
drawing their swords, declared, that no more should enter, 
for they were about to seek some part of the shoal fit for 
building a boat out of the wreck. But, after searching in 
vain, they became apprehensive of returning to the ship, 
lest the pinnace might be overladen, and themselves drown- 
ed. Therefore, having twelve boxes of marmalade, a pipe 



272 SHIPWRECK OF ADMIRAL MENDOZA. 

of wine, and some biscuit, which had been hastily thrown 
into the boat, they recommended themselves to God, and 
rowed for the land, which they made in seventeen days, 
after suffering severe hunger, thirst, and fatigue. 

Those who remained in the wreck, not seeing the pin- 
nace return, were filled with despair, until the vessel parting 
between the decks, exposed the long-boat, which was falling 
out. No one wished to give directions to the rest, nor was 
any expedient adopted to save their lives ; but all sat inac- 
tive, looking at each other. At last an Italian, Cypriano 
Grimaldi, inspirited them to exertion, and leaping into the 
boat, began to clear it out. Others followed his example ; 
and by the time the boat was got to sea, there were at least 
ninety persons on board, besides many trying to overtake it 
by swimming. Several women were among them ; but be- 
cause those within were unwilling to endanger the boat, 
they mercilessly cut off the fingers, hands, and arms of those 
holding by the sides ; and threw many overboard who were 
incapable of defending themselves. A painful scene en- 
sued on taking leave of the unfortunate persons abandoned 
in the ship, and the adventurers put straight out to sea. 
The boat was not only overloaded by the numbers within, 
but leaked very much, and the adventurers had but a small 
store of provisions ; whence, after rowing several days, 
they resolved to choose a captain from their number, to 
whom they should give implicit obedience. A gentleman 
born in India, though of Portuguese extraction, was selected, 
whose first act of authority was commanding his crew to 
throw some of the rest overboard, being such as were weak- 
est, or least likely to be useful. Among these was the car- 
penter, who had so lately assisted in repairing the boat. 
When he knew that the lot had fallen to him, he besought 
his comrades to give him some marmalade, and a cup of 
wine ; which having received, he willingly suffered himself 
to be thrown over, and was drowned. Another of the vic- 
tims had a younger brother in the boat, who suddenly 
started up, and prayed the captain to change the lot, and 
let him die in his brother's place. " My brother,'* said he, 
" is older and has more knowledge of the world than I, 
therefore more fit to live, and better able to assist my sisters 
and friends in their need ; and I had rather die for him, 



THE YOUNGER BROTHER TAKEN INTO THE BOAT. 273 




Affecting' Situation of two Brothers. 

than survive without him." The elder brother being thus 
released, the younger one was thrown into the sea. He 
swam full six hours, following the boat ; and although he 
was repulsed with naked swords, he laid hold of it, and had 
his hand cut half asunder. However, he Vv^ould not let go, 
and those within were at last obliojed to take him in aorain. 
Both these brothers were personally known to the author of 
this narrative. 

The people continued twenty days at sea in the greatest 
distress ; and then got to land, where they found the admi- 
ral and the crew of the other boat. 

Those who were abandoned in the ship, attempted to 
make rafts of deals and spars, and whatever else tl^ey could 
fasten together, in hopes of saving their lives ; but of all who 
embarked on them, only two came safe ashore. 

The adventurers, who had made the land, escaped one 
danger but to meet another ; for no sooner had they reached 
the coast, than they were attacked by the CafFres, robbed 
of all they possessed, and scarcely preserved clothes to 
cover their nakedness ; and they suffered many hardships 
besides. In time they succeeded in reaching the Portu- 
guese agent for Soffala and Mosambique, who gave them 



274 SHIPWRECK OF ADMIRAL MENDOZA. 

all the assistance he could render, and sent them to Mo- 
sambique, from whence they passed to India. Some, how- 
ever, died in the interval; so that the whole saved from 
this shipwreck did not exceed sixty persons ; for nothing 
more than what is already related was heard of the ship. 
Thus did the obstinacy and arrogance of the pilot cost 
so many lives ; which shows the impropriety of giving one 
the absolute control, and the privilege of rejecting better 
counsel. 

This same pilot was committed to prison on his arrival in 
Portugal, from which he escaped by means of bribery. But 
another ship, the St. Thomas, the best of the whole Indian 
fleet, that sailed in 1 586, was committed to his charge, 
though not without the imprecations of those whom his 
misconduct had rendered widows and orphans. The vessel 
was nearly wrecked, close to the place where the former 
was cast away. But the approach of day enabled the 
mariners to discover their danger, whereby they escaped. 
Afterwards, in the voyage home, the pilot followed a new 
course, standing far out to sea, to clear the banks and shoals 
on the African coast ; for, as he affirmed, it was the want 
of such precaution that occasioned the loss of many ships. 
Yet the truth is, that the disasters arose from overloading 
the vessels, manning them with unskilful seamen, and 
neglecting a due survey whether they were fit for the 
voyage. 

The Bassas de India, or more correctly Bassas de Juida, 
was considered a very dangerous shoal, and long remained 
the dread of navigators. But more recent observations 
have ascertained that, instead of a shoal, it is a low island, 
about five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth, 
lying in 22° 28'' south latitude, and 40° 51'' east longitude. 
Many trees grow upon it, and the western beach is white 
and sandy. Rocks and breakers, to which most probably 
Huyghens van Linschoten alludes, are said to encompass 
the island ; and thence so much apprehension has been ex- 
cited on approaching it. In 1774 and 1804, the chief bear- 
ings were taken, whereby its position may be supposed to 
be nearly ascertained. 



THE LOSS 



SHIP ROYAL CHARLOTTE, 



CORAL ROCKS OF FREDERICK'S REEF; 



A Narrative of the Sojourn and Sufferings of her 
Company on that low Place, during the Voyage of 
the Long-Boat to New Holland for Assistance, and 
the Arrival of a Vessel for their Relief; June, 
1835. 

OON after the arrival of the ship Royal 
Charlotte, of London, commanded by 
Captain Joseph Corbyn, at Sidney, 
New South Wales, she was commis- 
sioned by the colonial government to 
carry detachments of his majesty's 
20th, 41st, and 46th regiments to In- 
dia, in order to join their respective 
corps in that country. 
" These troops, commanded by Lieutenant Henry CHn 
ton, of the 20th, embarked on the afternoon of the 7th of 
June ; and on the Sunday following, the pilot proceeded on 
board, and got the ship under way, with a fine leading breeze 
down the river. The sun was fast sinking in the western 
horizon as she passed between Port Jackson Heads ; but 
the appearance of the weather in the offing was gloomy, 
and the light vapors, as they scudded rapidly to the east- 
ward, and the hoarse murmur of the surf, as it broke on the 
jutting rocks, seemed to presage an approaching storm. 
The light sails were taken in, and the topsails, as the breeze 




276 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

was increasing, single-reefed, while the ship left the land at 
the rate of seven or eight knots per hour. By seven o'clock, 
the reflecting light of the piomontory, which at intervals 
peered over the increasing waves, was all that was visible to 
us of the land of New South Wales ; this, too, was soon 
lost in the distance, and nought but the white foam of the 
swelling waves, and the dark scud over our heads, could be 
seen from the ship. 

" At eight bells the fore and main-topsails were double- 
reefed, the mizzen-topsails and main-courses handed, and 
every other necessary preparation made for a stormy night, 
which we now had every reason to expect. The ship ran 
before the wind, under this snug sail, till about half past ten 
o'clock, when she unfortunately broached to in a squall, and 
split every sail, fore and aft, then set ; the gale soon increased 
to a perfect hurricane, and blew the canvass out of the bolt- 
ropes ; while the shreds that remained pendent to the yards 
cracked dreadfully in the wind, and reminded us of the in- 
dependent firing of a body of infantry. The ship ran at 
the rate of ten knots an hour, and rolled tremendously ; 
both quarter-boats were washed away from the davits, and 
several other articles were washed overboard, which it was 
impossible to prevent. Heavy showers of rain at intervals, 
accompanied by squalls of wind, added considerably to the 
horrors of the night, which was uncommonly dark and cold. 
About half past twelve o'clock, we had an opportunity of 
witnessing a phenomenon which has frequently attracted 
the attention of mariners, in a heavy squall of wind and 
rain : a luminous appearance, apparently about the size of a 
forty-two pound sliot, attached itself to the main-topmast- 
head, where it remained about half an hour, when it lost its 
globular appearance, and seemed to melt into a stream of 
liquid fire, whicli, gradually descending the mast, ran out on 
the lee yard-arm, and in a few minutes totally disappeared. 
These phenomena, though common in southern latitudes in 
stormy weather, are considered by superstitious seamen as 
sure indications of approaching evil ; and the fate of the 
Royal Charlotte was foretold with that serious positiveness 
that admits of no contradiction, and completely evinces the 
readiness of the ignorant to attach importance to whatever 
is wonderful or strange. 



THE SHIP STRIKES THE REEF. 277 

"The gale continued with unabating violence till the 
morning of the 14th, when it gradually ceased ; and a new 
suit of canvass was bent during the day. The sea yet ran 
very high, and as the wind continued to blow in a direction 
favorable to the course of the ship, she made so much prog- 
ress, that on Sunday, the 19th, immediately after divine 
service, we made Cato's Reef. At daylight in the morning, 
the breeze again increased ; the topgallantsails were handed, 
and a single reef taken in each topsail, which were double- 
reefed in the afternoon. While running under this sail, at 
the rate of nine knots, she struck, at a quarter before ten 
o'clock, on a reef of rocks with great violence. The sails 
were immediately thrown aback, but without effect; she 
continued to harden on, and at length fell down on her 
larboard beam ends, still continuing to strike violently, while 
the water rushed rapidly into her hold. 

" All hands were immediately ordered to the pumps ; but 
the depth of water in the hold increased in spite of every 
effort. The mizzenmast was cut away for the purpose of 
lightening the ship, as a faint hope was entertained that 
she might beat over the reef. 

^' On all sides the cry arose of ' Loosen the boats ! set 
them afloat!' This, however, was easier said than done, 
since all joined in the exclamation, but no one put his 
shoulder to the work, and the vessel heeled so violently from 
side to side, that it was well nigh impossible to set foot 
firmly upon her. 

**'Cut away the mainmast! down with the foremast! 
stand clear the masts ! ' was often shouted. Every one got 
out of the way as fast as he could, in order to avoid the 
hazard of the falling timbers ; and a dreadful silence of 
some minutes' duration ensued, during which the work was 
accomplished with hatchets and similar instruments, until the 
masts gave away, and fell, with all their tackling, into the 
foaminsT ocean. 



" Her ponderous bulk the dire concussion feels, 
And o'er upheaving surges wounded reels ; 
Again she plunges ! hark I a second shock 
Bilges the splitting vessel on the rock." 

24 



2^78 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

" Vivid flashes of lightning, that at times illuminated the 
whole horizon, were succeeded by loud peals of thunder; 
while the roaring of the surf, the crashing of the ship on 
the rocks, and the dismal cries of the women and children, 
who crowded on deck, while the rain fell in torrents, added 
to the uncertainty of the fate that awaited us, can only be 
conceived by those who have been in the Hke unfortunate 
predicament. Those who, after witnessing the vessel carry- 
ing them over the foaming billows in all the pride of her 
glory and strength, and while the crew were fearless of 
danger, and exulting in their fancied security, have in a 
moment found themselves dashed against a fatal shoal or 
rock, and the ship, which they fondly deemed was bearing 
them to fame, fortune, or the shores of a long-lost home, 
become a dismal wreck, with no prospect but instant death 
before them, — those only can conceive the dread tumult of 
our minds in these awful moments of suspense, when the 
portals of eternity seemed open to receive us. 

*' Lieutenant Clinton, Dr. Nisbett, Captain Dick, and the 
chief officers of the ship, were seen every where on deck, 
encouraging the men to direct all their efforts to the pumps, 
as the only means of escape ; while Captain Corby n re- 
mained on the poop, watching every possible chance of 
relieving his ship, and issuing the necessary orders for her 
preservation, in that calm, collected manner, which bespeaks 
a mind superior to danger and death, and is a distinguished 
trait in the character of a British seaman. 

" The surf beat over her bows in a dreadful manner, and 
frequently knocked the men away from the pumps, which 
were wrought with little intermission as long as any hopes 
remained of keeping her free ; but when it was found that 
the water increased in spite of 'all our efforts, and that it 
was impossible for the ship to beat over the reef, or be 
Otherwise got off, the men, who were now nearly all ex- 
hausted, were ordered to desist. Each sought for himself a 
resting-place, and like the mariners in St. Paul's ship, when 
they threw the anchors over the stern, all earnestly wished 
for the day. 

"Day at length dawned, and the increasing light soon 



TWO OF THE ship's COMPANY REACH THE BANK. 279 

showed us the horrors of our situation ; various conjectures 
had been made in the course of the preceding night relative 
to her position, but none had approached the truth ; she lay 
on her larboard beam ends, with her head nearly N. N. E., 
about her own length from the edge of the reef, which ap- 
peared from the ship to be nearly perpendicular, and of great 
height. The breakers, as they rolled in unremitting suc- 
cession over the precipice, broke close to the ship's fore- 
foot, and covered her as far as the waist, while we expected 
every moment that the bows would be stove in, and that she 
would go to pieces. 

" The reef, as nearly as we could judge by the tremendous 
surf, formed a sort of crescent, or rather horseshoe, and 
swept in a circular line to about fifteen or twenty miles on 
each side of the ship. As the tide decreased, a number of 
shoals and rocks appeared within the surf; and about a 
mile to the eastward of the ship was a sand-bank, rather 
higher than the other shoals, and over which the tide ap- 
parently did not rise. About eleven o'clock, while the 
hands were engaged in clearing the decks, an emeu, which 
Captain Corbyn had brought from Sidney, lay in the way 
and was thrown overboard ; the poor bird, in clearing the 
surf, made for the bank, sometimes walking over the tops 
of detached rocks, and at other times, when in deep water, 
aided by a current which set him towards the shoal. His 
motions were watched from the ship, and confirmed the 
idea that it would be practicable for a person to wade 
ashore at low water. Privates Hugh Murnane, of the 20th, 
and James Murphy, of the 41st, volunteered to go to the 
bank, and on receiving permission, lowered themselves on 
to the wreck of the foremast, which still remained along- 
side, and watching an opportunity, when the surf rolled in, 
committed themselves to its fury, with the good wishes of 
all on board for their success and safe return. They were 
thrown a considerable distance from the ship towards the 
bank, but the receding wave, unwilling to part with its prey, 
brought them as rapidly back; no human strength could 
cope with its violence, or stem the back draught that 
threatened to convey them out to sea ; but they had scarcely 
passed the ship when they were met by another mountain 
wave, and thrown so far up on the bank that they were 



280 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

able to gain and preserve their footing on the rocks, before 
it returned ; after breathing a few minutes, they again set 
out, and, partly by swimming, and partly by wading, ia 
about half an hour they reached the bank. 

" In the interim, it was the opinion of every one on board 
that the ship would go to pieces in a few tides. The car- 
penters had constructed a sort of small raft, or catamaran, 
for the purpose of conveying to the bank a few of those arti- 
cles of provisions, &-c., which would be most wanted, in the 
event of .our being obliged to abandon the ship ; but this 
piece of mechanism proved unserviceable, as it was instantly 
overturned on being lowered into the surf, and every thing 
on board lost. The boatswain of the ship, who had gone 
overboard to superintend the management of the catamaran, 
was knocked away from alongside by the surf, and anxious 
to ascertain whetlier the bank would afford us a temporary 
shelter, made the best of his way ashore, and showed us the 
extent of the bank, by walking from end to end and across 
it, with a handkerchief tied to a stick, which he picked up ; 
he then returned on board with the two soldiers, and re- 
ported that the tide did not overflow the bank, as he had 
observed a large junk of timber, the remains of a ship's 
mast, on the top of the bank, which appeared, from its dry 
and decayed state, to have lain a considerable time. 




^'In consequence of the favorable report made by the 
boatswain, it was thought expedient to allow as many of 
the troops to leave the ship that afternoon as could be 
spared from assisting the seamen in getting provisions, &c., 
out of the hold. About twenty men, and a few women 
and children, accordingly took possession of the bank, 
where they busied themselves in making preparations for 
passing the night. They succeeded in lighting a fire to 
cook the small quantity of provisions which the women had 



MRS. m'dONNEl's infant PERISHES. 5J81 

b^n provident enough to carry with them ; and while this 
operation was going forward, the men drew round the fire 
and canvassed the events of the preceding night, or calcu- 
lated the probable chances of escape from their miserable 
situation. 

" As this is the season of winter in these latitudes, the 
nights are consequently long ; and though the heat in the 
day is much the same as in England in the month of July 
or August, the air after sunset becomes extremely cold ; and 
when the fire on the bank died away, for want of a supply 
of fuel, the people found themselves very uncomfortably 
situated : they had no covering but the gloomy canopy of 
the heavens ; a long and moonless night was fast approach- 
ing, and the flood tide rapidly advancing on the bank, while 
they were uncertain whether or not it would be overflowed, 
and every soul swept into the deep. For the better security 
of the women and children, the men dug holes in the shingle, 
and raised ridges of sand and stones on their weather sides, 
to defend them from the inclemency of the night air which 
was now getting damp and chill. 

" About half-flood, a heavy shower of rain came on, and 
continued till nearly half ebb ; at high water the tide was 
almost level with the top of the bank, and the surf beat 
entirely over it, so that the adventurers were for nearly four 
hours almost constantly up to the middle in water ; they 
stood in this wretched manner holding each other's hands, 
the poor women clinging to their husbands, and the chil^ 
dren to them, till the tide beoran to ebb. 

" The wife of Sergeant M'Donnel, of the 20th, had been 
delivered of a fine child only four nights before the ship was 
cast away, and on this night almost perished with the cold 
and anxiety ; but youth, and a good constitution, prevailed 
against the complicated evils that assailed her, and enabled 
her to bear up against them, with a degree seldom equalled 
in woman ; but her infant child fell a victim to the inclem- 
ency of the weather, and left its sorrowing and unfortunate 
mother, childless and nearly unprotected, on the rough and 
inhospitable rocks of Frederick's Reef. 

" Early in the morning some more of the soldiers went 
ashore, and reported the ship in such a crazy state that she 
could not hold together much longer : this determined those 
24* 



282 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

on the bank to remain, and as the day tide rose only about 
half way up, they preferred their chance on the shoal to 
that of being crushed to pieces in the ship when she should 
part. The number on the bank was increased by volun- 
teers, in the course of the day, and the men set about 
erecting a tent for the women and children, which they 
effected by placing pieces of timber and fragments of cedar 
planks — the remains of the catamaran which had drifted 
on shore — upright in the sand, covered with a piece of sail- 
cloth, which was brought from the wreck for the purpose ; 
but this hurricane-house, though it sheltered them from the 
air, admitted the water, and they were obliged to abandon 
it at high water for fear the surf would sweep it away. The 
tide, as on the preceding night, flowed over the bank, de- 
stroyed the foundation of the tent, and swept away most of 
the provisions and necessaries brought ashore. A few of 
the troops yet remained on board, who were employed in 
hoisting provisions and water out of the hold, while those 
on the bank were told off in working parties and relieved 
each other. Conveying them on shore was no easy task, as 
it was extremely dangerous to disengage them from the surf 
alongside, and difficult to roll them over the rocks to the 
bank, so that a single water-cask sometimes required the 
united efforts of eight or ten men ; but when they had made 
a few trips on board, and became acquainted with the rough- 
ness of the way, the casks were lowered over the side at 
about half ebb, and hauled out of the surf with ropes, so 
that in many places there was water enough to float them, 
or at least to facilitate the operation of rolling. 

" As it was now become apparent that the only hope of 
our being rescued from our deplorable situation, rested on 
the possibility of our being able to make our distress known, 
it was determined by the captain to fit out the long-boat, the 
only one now remaining, and endeavor to make some port 
on the coast of New Holland, where it was possible relief 
might be found, should she meet no vessel on the route. 
She was accordingly overhauled, and when the necessary 
preparations were completed, eight seamen and four soldiers 
were selected to man her, under the superintendence of 
Mr. Parks, chief officer of the ship, and Dr. Nisbett, who 
volunteered his services for this perilous undertaking, and 



THE LONG BOAT DEPARTS FOR NEW HOLLAND. 283 

whom we found particularly active and useful on many try- 
ing occasions. 

*' On Thursday, the 23d, the launch was parbuckled over 
the side, having Mr. Parks and two seamen on board ; 
Mr. Parks having previously received instructions in writing 
from Captain Corbyn, drawn up with every precision, re- 
quiring him to proceed to Moreton Bay, and charter a ship 
for the relief of the Charlotte's passengers and crew, or, in 
the event of not being able to succeed in that port, to try 
every other he could make. 

" Dr. Nisbett and the remainder of the crew afterwards 
got into her, when she dropped astern. On leaving the 
ship, they endeavored to force her through the surf; but 
after a fruitless effort of nearly two hours, they were obliged 
to bear away and search for a passage farther to the west- 
ward, which they soon found ; and we had the satisfaction 
to see them outside of the breakers, with a fine breeze and 
all sail set. 

" A number of cedar planks and other spars had, by this 
time, been drawn ashore by the working parties, a few of 
which were driven end down in the. sand, and a platform 
laid about five feet from the top of the bank, on which a 
tent was erected for the married people, a small space of 
which was screened off at the north end, for the accommo- 
dation of Lieutenant Clinton and his family, who had signi- 
fied their intention of joining those on the bank next day. 
Accordingly, at low water, that officer, with his lady and 
child, accompanied by Miss Tyghe, Mrs. Chnton's sister, 
reached the bank and took possession of their crazy abode* 
All the empty water-casks were procured from the ship, and 
a kind of breakwater erected on the most exposed side of 
the tent, by sinking them end down in the sand, and filhng 
them with shingle, which was brought from the lower part 
of the shoal, in a kind of rude handbarrow, constructed for 
that purpose, by nailing two spars horizontally on the sides 
of an old box. These casks were again fenced wdth a 
double row of billet-wood, driven deep in the sand, and an 
embankment of shingle raised outside, for the purpose of 
breaking the violence of the surf before it reached our inner 
fortifications. These precautions we considered would con- 
tribute greatly to our protection, at the return of the springs^ 



S84 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

and we ceased to regard their approach with that degree of 
terror we felt only a few days before. The carpenter with 
his crew had erected a stage, on which they were busily 
employed in building a flat-bottomed boat as a dernier resort, 
in the event of no vessel coming to our relief; and, although 
our situation was desperate, we were not entirely without 
hope. 

" Hitherto no lives had been lost ; but on the afternoon 
of the 27th, while Corporal John Hugiies and Thomas Neal, 
of the 41st, were engaged in taking a cask of water ashore, 
they kept too far to the eastward, and were drawn into a 
current, which sets rapidly to the northward of the bank, 
and swept out to sea. Neal, on perceiving his danger, 
quitted his charge, and with considerable difficulty reached 
the shore ; but poor Hughes, after struggling near an hour, 
sank to rise no more. After this melancholy event, nothing 
of moment occurred till the evening of the 1st of July, 
when, about seven o'clock, one of the sentinels called out, 
* A light ! a light ! ' Every one started up and gazed in 
the given direction, which was nearly due west, and saw, to 
their inexpressible satisfaction, the light, apparently of a 
vessel within the reef; a loud cheering instantly commenced, 
and a piece of junk was lighted, to guide our supposed de- 
liverers to the bank. But, alas ! we were doomed to expe- 
rience, in the most acute manner, that sickness of the heart 
which ariseth from hope deferred, as the light proved only 
to be the evening star setting, which, as the night was hazy, 
loomed large as it approached the horizon, and had every 
appearance of a signal light on board of a ship. 

" Most of the provisions and water were now got ashore, 
besides a great number of cedar planks, &.C., for the boat ; 
so that, by the tenth of July, little more remained in the 
wreck than was sufficient for the subsistence of those who 
remained on board, viz., Captain Corbyn, Captain Dick and 
lady, with her infant child, Mr. Scott, second officer of the 
Charlotte, and a few boys ; the boatswain and a few of the 
men having been sent ashore to alter the sails for the boat, 
which it was expected would soon be ready for launching. 

" On the morning of the 25th, a cask of bread, that had 
been buried in the sliingle, was raised and broached, but 
was found completely spoiled with salt water ; and on this 



THE ARRIVAL. OF A BRIG TO THEIR RELIEF. 287 

afternoon the surf ran very high, and beat so heavy on the 
ship that she frequently heeled over, as though she would 
upset ; and we were in considerable pain for those on board, 
although we were in a desperate situation ourselves, the 
waves running high over the bank, and threatening destruc- 
tion to our breakwaters and stages. Notwithstanding the 
exertions made to save our provisions, a tierce of beef, and 
one of pork, and a cask of water, were swept away, and 
several other articles of private property. 

" In this way we continued, till, on the afternoon of the 
28th of July, about two o'clock, a heavy squall of wind and 
rain came on, and continued about an hour and a half. As 
it cleared away, we observed the people on the wreck, crowd- 
ing to the weather side, waving their hats, &c., and other- 
wise signifying that something unexpected either had or was 
about to take place ; and some of the people who had 
ascended the stage sung out, 'A sail ! a sail ! ' We had 
so often been deceived by fallacious appearances, that we 
were now become slow of belief, and it was not till the en- 
sign was reversed on board that we would believe there was 
a sail in sight ; in about half an hour, however, we made out 
a sail, steering down on the reef. It is impossible to de- 
scribe the joy that took possession of all hands. The vessel 
proved to be a brig, and ran so near the edge of the reef 
that the people on the wreck could plainly distinguish a 
whale-boat on the quarter, and her crew on the rigging 
gazing at the wreck. She ran a few miles to the westward, 
and hove round, and we could see her standing off and on, 
as long as day lasted. We kept up a blazing fire at night, 
and at daybreak we again saw her hove to a great way to 
the eastward ; she shortly made sail and steered for us, but 
the surf ran so high that she could not send a boat ashore ; 
we were certain she had come to our relief, yet we felt 
mortified and depressed, that we could hold no communi- 
cation with our dehverers. 

" We had frequently seen whales, and other large fish, 
playing within the reef to the northward of our settlement, 
and as we could see no breakers in that direction, we were 
confident there existed a passage in that direction for a ves- 
sel ; but we had no means of making this known on board 
the brig. We watched her motions all day, and at night 



288 THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL CHARLOTTE. 

again lighted our fire as a beacon light to her ; but about 
nine o'clock the tide rose over th'e bank and swept it away ; 
and, in fact, every thing that was not buried in the sand or 
otherwise secured. The carpenter's saw-pit and tool-chest 
were washed away about ten o'clock, and it was with the 
greatest difficulty that we saved our lives. The situation of 
the ladies, and the rest of the women in the tent, was 
dreadful in the extreme, as the surf shook the frail beams 
of their crazy apartment with a violence that threatened in- 
stant destruction, and, as it broke under their feet, dashed 
through the tent and wet them to the skin. Four hours 
of dreadful suspense rolled heavily away, and the tide began 
to leave us ; night, too, wore away, and the dawn surprised 
us all anxiously looking out for the brig, which we could no 
where see in the direction of yesterday ; but on looking to 
the northward she was seen inside of the reef, at the dis- 
tance of about four miles from the bank, steering towards 
us ; she soon came to, and in a little time a whale-boat, 
having on board Mr. Parks, Dr. Nesbitt, and the master of 
the brig, pulled to the bank. We received them with three 
cheers, which they returned as they leapt ashore. 

" After mutual congratulations and inquiries had passed 
between these gentlemen and Mr. Clinton, they made a short 
visit to the ladies' tent, and set out for the wreck. When 
they returned on board the brig, the women and sick men 
accompanied them, while the rest of the men were employed 
in assisting the carpenters in laying the skids for launching 
the boat, which was done as soon as there was water enough 
to receive her, and she was moved to a rock about fifteen or 
twenty fathoms from the bank ; Mr. C, the carpenters, and 
several men, remaining on board. 

"About seven o'clock, the surf began to beat over the 
bank, and by nine the provision casks were all washed up ; 
we divided ourselves amongst them, and when the awful 
rush of the remorseless breakers amongst our breakwaters 
announced the moment of danger, we closed in and clung 
to the casks till the receding wave left them on the bank. 
Towards high water, every surf buried us for a few seconds, 
and we could scarcely regain our breath, when it left us, be- 
fore it was over us again. 

" The tent that had been abandoned by the women in 



"spirited conduct of sergeant m'donnel. 289 

the forenoon was washed away, with all the other stages. 
By eleven o'clock nothing remained but a kw casks of 
water, which were knocked about with great violence ; and 
between two of which a young man belonging to .the sliip 
had his right knee so dreadfully jammed as to occasion his 
death a few days after his arrival at Sidney. 

" The moon shone very bright, and Lieutenant Clinton, 
who had watched our situation from the boat with the great- 
est anxiety, ordered her to be steered towards us, for the 
purpose of receiving us on board: this, owing to the cur- 
rent, was found impracticable, and we must have perished, 
had not Sergeant M'Donnel leapt out of the boat and swam 
to us with the end of a small line, with which we endeav- 
ored to haul the boat to us ; but when she came broadside 
to the current, all our strength was in vain. One of the 
boat's crew, at this critical moment, sent us the end of a 
hawse by the line, on which we hung when the surf knocked 
us off our feet. As the tide began to ebb, the boat's moor- 
ings gave way, and she must have gone among the breakers, 
had we not held her on by the hawser, so providentially sent 
us, till she grounded on the bank. 

^'On the morning of the first of August, every thing that 
could be brought from the wreck was sent on board the brig; 
and all the people embarked in the course of the day. She 
got under weigh at four in the afternoon, and cleared the 
reef as night set in ; and, after a favorable passage of ten 
days, landed us in Sidney, to the astonishment of all ac- 
quainted with our misfortunes." 




25 



THE LOSS 



BARQUE MEDUSA, 

AN ENGLISH WEST INDIAMAN, 

Wliich was driven on the Rocks of the Colorados 
Reef, off the Island of Cuha; Augnst, 1836. 




N intelligent merchant at the Havana 
wrote the following account of this 
melancholy event, and forwarded it to 
a friend in England : — 

" During my long residence in this 
city, I scarcely, if ever, remember a 
shipwreck more disastrous and afflict- 
ing in its consequences than one which has occurred, a 
few days previous to my writing, upon our coast, about 
fifteen leagues to the eastward, and which has caused a 
very considerable and painful sensation here, as I have 
no doubt it has at several ports at the west end of the 
Island of Jamaica. In consequence of some of the sur- 
vivors of the ill-fated vessel being at present in our city, 
with whom I have conversed respecting the melancholy 
catastrophe, I am enabled to state particulars that may be 
relied on. 

"It appears that on the 24th of August, the Medusa, 
a fine barque of three hundred and twenty tons' burden, 
commanded by Captain James O'Neil, sailed from Port 
Morant, at the east side of Jamaica, for Kinsale, in Ire- 
land ; her cargo consisted of rum, sugar, indigo, pimento, 
and cedar ; she embarked eleven cabin and eight steerage 
passengers, the former of whom were families of great 
respectability ; she was manned with a crew of sixteen 
good hands, independent of the captain and mates. It 
was first the intention of Captain O'Neil to go home by 



THE ISLE OF PINES DISCOVERED AT MIDNIGHT. 291 

the windward passage, between St. Domingo and Marga- 
rita, and for several days the Medusa was beating to 
windward to effect her purpose ; but owing to strong 
north-east gales, which prevail in these latitudes at this 
season of the year, he was unable to proceed ; and when 
distant about six leagues from Cape Tiberon, the western- 
most point of St. Domingo, he bore up, and resolved to 
go the leeward passage through the Gulf of Florida, and 
by the Banks of Newfoundland. In the vessel's passage 
to the eastward of Jamaica, she encountered very tre- 
mendous weather, and the captain endeavored either to 
make Port Royal or Bluefields, but was unable. 

"On the night of the 1st of September, the Medusa 
passed a large merchant vessel totally dismasted ; but, from 
the heavy sea that was running at the time, they were 
unable to speak each other. The distressed vessel fired 
signals of distress. On the morning of the 2d of Sep- 
tember, no traces of her were to be seen from the top- 
gallantmast-heads of the Medusa, which was still going 
before the wind at thirteen knots, under a close-reefed 
foresail and mizzen-staysail. At this time, Montego Bay 
was to leeward considerably, and before darkness on the 
2d, the land of the Grand Caymans was discerned through 
the thick haze. At this time, the weather had increased 
to a hurricane, and the Medusa lay to with her head 
to the wind, under two storm-trysails, with her topgal- 
lantmasts struck. During the night of the 2d, the most 
intense anxiety and fearful apprehensions prevailed on 
board. Captain O'Neil, not having a thorough knowl- 
edge of this passage, greatly dreaded the Grand Cayman, 
the land of which is so remarkably low that it cannot 
be seen until close upon it. Under all the critical cir- 
cumstances the captain found himself in, he thought it 
tidvisable to put the ship before the wind, and bear up 
for this port. At midnight, on the 2d of September, 
land was discovered on the starboard bow. This proved, 
by the charts, to be the Isle of Pines, off the west end of 
our island, (Cuba.) Considerable consternation took place 
on board at this discovery, as the land in question lay 
* dead to leeward.' The ship was put about with great 
difficulty, and an offing was eventually gained. 



292 THE LOSS OF AN ENGLISH WEST INDIAMAN. 

" The apprehensions of the crew and passengers were 
now greatly allayed, as the most lively hopes were enter- 
tained that no disaster would occur before daylight, when 
the situation of the vessel would be known, and steps 
taken for her safety. The gale continued with unabated 
fury, accompanied by so heavy a sea, that it was expected 
the decks would be swept fore and aft. Between two 
and three o'clock, these fears were realized, by a heavy 
sea coming over the lee quarters, disabling the wheel, 
and carrying away her coops, carpenter's chest, and other 
things on the poop. A few minutes after, another, of 
greater magnitude, came over the vv^indward side of the 
vessel, nearly amidship, the effects of which proved dread- 
ful : the ship's carpenter and cook were carried overboard 
and perished ; with them went the Hfe and jolly-boats, 
also the caboose, and a number of casks ; the whole of 
the starboard bulwarks were carried away by the same 
sea ; to this was attributed tlie subsequent loss of the 
unfortunate vessel, and calamitous results, as the vessel 
now became unmanageable, and drove bodily to leeward. 
The captain was aware that the land of Cuba must lie 
close to leeward ; and all hope of escaping destruction 
before daylight was now given up. 

" The scene that followed (as described by one of the 
survivors) can only be imagined by those who have been 
in similar dreadful situations — all was anarchy and horror 
on board; between three and four o'clock, breakers were 
distinctly discerned on the starboard bow, and now the mere 
shadow of hope that previously existed fled ; all subordina- 
tion now ceased on board ; every one thought of the best 
expedient to give himself a chance of preservation. Signals 
of distress were fired, but they were only wasted amidst the 
tumult of the contending elements. The captain ordered 
the masts to be cut away, which was done by the few 
who were sufficiently collected still to obey his orders. 
This eased the vessel ; but she still drove towards the 
* breakers,' the foam of which had an awfully grand ap- 
pearance. The captain knew the land to be the Island 
of Cuba, but was ignorant on what part of the coast the 
vessel was driving. Had not the boats been washed over 
in the sea that was running, they could not have been 



THE SURVIVORS PICKED UP BY THE SPANIARDS. 293 

of any avail in the preservation of human life, as they 
could not have existed tlirough the lieavy surf that was 
furiously rushing over the breakers. 

" A little after three o'clock, as near as could be judged, 
the unfortunate ship struck, her starboard bow first taking 
the ground and immediately afterwards she was thrown 
upon her beam ends, the sea making complete breaches 
over her deck. One universal scene of destruction took 
place in a few minutes after the first dreadful shock ; only 
four souls of the whole ship's company, crew, and pas- 




The Medusa on the Rocks of Cuba. 

sengers, survived .; and these wretched men were some ef 
many who lashed themselves to spars, and committed their 
fates to the waves ; they were picked up on the beach 
shortly after daylight, by some Spaniards, in a mutilated 
and exhausted state; three of them were seamen, the 
fourth a steerage passenger of the name of Doherty. 
The vessel struck upon the ^Colorados,' an extensive 
reef of rocks, lying about half a mile off the main land. 
The day after the wreck, more than twenty bodies were 
washed on the beach, as also a quantity of the cargo ; 
25* 



294 



THE LOSS OF AN ENGLISH WEST INDIAMAN, 



mosi of the latter became the booty of the Spaniards on 
that part of the coast. The cabin passengers consisted 
of Mr. and Mrs. Urqiihart and daughter, Mr. M'Lean, 
Mr. Murray, and two sons, (youths.) Mr. Oblara, Mr. 
Farrel, and two other gentlemen, whose names I have 
not been able to ascertain. On the night of the fatal 
wreck, the Pomona, Captain Douglas, heard signals of 
distress, when near Cape Corrientes ; but from the state 
of the weather she was unable to render assistance. She 
was from Jamaica, and bound to Glasgow. The four sur- 
vivors are still here. Doherty is not expected to live. I 
have not heard to whom the Medusa belonged. She had 
made three previous voyages to the West Indies." 




THE CONFLAGRATION 

or THE 

STEAMER ROYAL TAR, 

IN 

PENOBSCOT BAY, OFF THE COAST OF MAINE; 
October, 1836. 



to Portland, Me., having encountered 
a gale as she was crossing Penobscot 
Bay, came to anchor within about a 
mile of Fox Island, on the 25th of 
October, 1836. While lying there, 
about 2 o'clock, P. M., on that fatal 
day, she was discovered to be on lire near the coal-room. 
The boilers were at the time without water. The pas- 
sengers were assembled in the cabin, and about sitting 
down to dinner, when it was announced to them that the 
boat was on fire. This fact had already been made known 
to the crew some time, and they had been engaged in 
unavailing efforts to extinguish it, without giving the alarm. 
Had it sooner been made known, it was thought, as some 
of them were experienced men, the fire might, possibly, have 
been extinguished, or the destruction of the boat have been 
attended with less loss of life. As it was, all efforts to 
extinguish the flames seemed useless, and the only hope of 
escape seemed to be to run the boat on shore. With this 
view the anchor was slipped. The foresail having already 
Decome a prey to the devouring element, a jib, the only 
available sail, was hoisted ; but the flames blew into it and 
burnt it immediately, it blowing a gale off the shore. The 
boat being loosed from her moorings, without steam or sail, 
began to drift to sea. The captain, with a few of the pas- 



S96 THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 

sengersj secured their own safety by taking to one of the 
boats. Two of the boats had been left at St. John, to 
make room upon the deck for the caravan. The passengers 
were thus deprived of a part of the usual means of escape, 
in case of disaster. An effort was made to put overboard a 
large omnibus, upon which to escape ; but its great weight 
(being nearly two tons) prevented its being done. Several 
passengers now took to the only remaining boat ; and the re- 
maining passengers, among whom were several women and 
children, were driven overboard by the flames. The scene at 
this time was truly terrific. Women threw their infants over- 
board, and leaped after them. Other passengers, both male 
and female, secured ropes to the vessel, and lowered them- 
selves over the side. This precaution was rendered un- 
availing to many of them, by the ropes being burnt off. 
One man, having secured a quantity of silver dollars to his 
person, lowered himself to the water's edge, with the in- 
tention of seizing a spar, but no sooner let go his hold, 
than, owing to the weight of the silver, he sunk to rise no 
more. Six horses belonging to the caravan were backed 
overboard ; three of them instinctively swam towards the 
nearest land ; the other three swam round the boat until 
they sank exhausted. A large elephant, belonging to the 
menagerie, having retreated to a part of the boat which the 
fire had not reached, mounted his fore feet upon the rail, in 
which position he remained till about four o'clock, — appa- 
rently calculating, with the characteristic sagacity of the ani- 
mal, the prospects of escape, -^ when it became too hot for 
him, and he leaped overboard, carrying with him, as he slid 
down the vessel's side, several of the passengers who were 
clinging there. His immense weight probably carried him 
to the bottom of the sea, as he reappeared, after some time, 
at a considerable distance. This animal also instinctively 
swam towards the nearest land ; but as the boat was at this 
time drifted four or five miles out to sea, he must have per- 
ished. The Revenue Cutter, on the Castine station, made 
her appearance at the scene ; but the captain declined going 
alongside, as he was fearful that the elephant would leap on 
board. The steamboat continued to drift to sea ; and the 
light of the conflagration was visible till 9 o'clock in the 
evening, when it suddenly disappeared, and the boat is sup- 



' DISTRESSING SCENE ON BOARD. 29T 

posed to have sunk ; being about twenty miles from where 
she took fire. 

A gentleman connected with the menagerie, Mr. H. H. 
Fuller, gives the following statement of his perils : — 

" Immediately after she came to anchor, fire was dis- 
covered around the whole space occupied by the boiler, 
below the deck. Those who first became aware of the 
fact, fled to the boats. At this time, I was sick in my 
berth ; my attention was first called to the fact, that some- 
thing unusual had taken place, by observing that every 
person but myself had left the cabin. When I reached 
the deck, I saw the long-boat, full of people, a quarter 
of a mile to the leeward ; they were rowing hard, and 
were soon out of sight. The small boat, in which was 
Captain Reed, who took possession of it to prevent its 
following the long-boat to the leeward, lay about fifty 
yards astern ; three persons swam off, and were taken 
into her, though the wind was then blowing a gale, and 
a tremendous sea was running. He then bore away for 
the land to windward, about two miles. At this time, a 
great many persons jumped overboard and w^ere drowned. 
The screams of women and children, the horrid yells of 
the men, the roaring of the storm, and the awful con- 
fusion, baffle description. The pilot. Captain Atkins, of 
Portland, and the mate, Mr. Black, of St. John, with the 
assistance of those who still had their senses, after hoisting 
a signal of distress, slipped the cable and made sail. The 
sails, however, caught fire, and were soon burnt. The 
steamer then broached to, and was shortly completely en- 
veloped in flames amidships. The fire interrupted all 
communication between the fore and aft ; and neither 
those in the bows nor those in the stern could see or 
know the fate of each other. All but myself fled from 
the quarter-deck. I sat on the stern rail, till my coat 
took fire. I looked round, and seeing not a soul around 
me in the boat, I fastened a rope to the tiller chain 
and dropped over the stern, where I found about fifteen 
others hanging in different places, mostly in the water. 
In fact, the water washed over all of us almost every 
minute. 

"While holding on, I saw several drown; some were' 



298 THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. ? 

beaten from their hold by the waves, and some falUng 
into the sea for want of strength to sustain themselves 
any longer. I had fastened my rope to the chain, which 
was again fastened by iron bolts, which held out against 
the fire much longer than the other parts, to which many 
were suspended. I wound the rope round my neck and 
thigh ; and was enabled to bear up the additional weight 
of three men and a lady, who hung securely to me. 
Not far from me hung Captain Atkins, the pilot : he held 
up a lady with his feet; her arms failed her at last, but he 
caught her with his feet, and held her full five minutes, till 
a sea washed her off, and she drifted by ; a kind wave 
threw her up against an Irishman, hanging on my left, and 
she seized hold of him, and assisted, perhaps, by our en- 
couraging, and the Irishman's also, she kept up. When 
the cutter's boat passed under our stem, Atkins and I 
begged for God's sake that she should take those two, 
even if they left us, as we thought we could weather it 
a little longer. The gig passed within six feet of those 
two, who, we expected, would be lost every minute. The 
officer of the gig was afraid, and left them and us to our 
fate. We were all saved — that is, the lady. Irishman, 
Atkins, and those attached to my person — by Captain 
Reed, in his small boat, and conveyed to the cutter. She 
was not in sight when I first went on deck. I had been in 
the water, beating about under the stern, two hours before 
I was taken off. 

" I cannot conclude this statement without expressing my 
deep conviction that the course pursued by Captain Reed 
was the only one which could have saved those who were 
saved, after the long-boat put off to leeward. Captain 
Reed saved, by making trips in his small boat, all who were 
saved after that injudicious movement." 

Mr. William Marjoram, a pious passenger, gives the fol- 
lowing recital : — 

" At 2, P. M., the engineer reported to the captain that 
the water was all out of the boiler : the captain immediately 
ordered the anchor to be let go, without first ascertaining 
whether there was any danger of the boiler's being red hot, 
which was then the case. Some men were then sent down 
to pump water into it ; in a few minutes, the black boy camfe 



MANY ARE DRIVEN OVERBOARD BY THE FIRE. 299 

funning on deck, crying out, ' Fire,^ Captain Read was 
heard to tell him to hold his tongue. The boats were im- 
mediately lowered ; fifteen got into one, and Captain Reed 
and four men into the other, and both rowed towards the 
shore. The scene was now truly awful -r-men, women, and 
children, running in all directions, with their clothes in their 
hands. In consequence of seeing the captain leave the boat, 
they became paralyzed. The fire was now raging through 
the decks ; the mate gave orders to slip the cable. The 
jib was now hoisted, and the mainsail partly got up ; but 
such was the confusion on board that it was impossible to 
obey the order. Several were by this time seen some dis 
tance from the boat, on pieces of wood, and, I fear, were 
drowned. I endeavored to exhort the people to be calm, 
and to meet the then approaching fate with calmness, and 
to trust in God, and his Son Jesus, as our only hope of being 
saved ; reminding them that they had been sinful creatures. 
With some it appeared to have great weight, and I hope 
they obtained pardon through the blood of Christ. As the 
fire raged, the scene became truly awful. Men, women, and 
children, were seen taking their last farewell of each other; 
some lashing boxes to their backs, loaded with dollars, and 
some casting their property into the sea. A sail was at last 
seen from behind the land, which, on heaving in sight, bore 
away for us. The boat Captain Reed was in immediately 
made for us : all eyes were now directed on her as the only 
hope to rescue them from a watery grave. Several, by this 
time, had caught fire, and jumped into the sea ; and some 
were holding on to the stern. The fire had now taken pos- 
session of the waist, and prevented any communication to 
the stern. I recollect passing over the cages of wild beasts 
when they were on fire ; and well might I say with the 
psalmist David, ^ My soul is among lions, even those that are 
set on JireJ The cutter had now nearly reached us, and 
every one preparing to jump on board ; but what was our 
consternation, when we beheld the cutter heave in stays and 
stand for the shore ! but she was boarded by Captain Reed, 
who put what men he had into her, and rowed for the 
steamer, and took some off the stern. The cutter's boat 
rowed round the steamer, but was afraid to come near, as 
was the cutter, forgetting they could have thrown their 



300 THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 

powder overboard. The boat now continued going to and 
from the wreck, taking the people ofT. I was three hours 
on the wreck, and was taken off by the captain. The mo- 
ment I got on board of the cutter, I begged Captain Dyer 
to carry her alongside, but he refused ; saying, the ele- 
phant would jump on board. I then requested him to sail 
the cutter under the bows, and ask the keeper to lash his 
leg to the windlass ; but it was of no avail : he ordered me 
to go below, which I did for a short time. 

" I again went on deck, and helped the people out of the 
boat as they came alongside, remarking every time that they 
brought no women with them. About 6 o'clock, the boat 
came with only three persons on board — a Mr. Brown, late 
steward of the boat, and a colored sailor, that belonged to 
the steamboat, who was the means of saving a great many 
lives, having been in the boat a long time. He requested 
me to take his place ; the cutter-master said he could stay 
no longer. I, however, jumped into the boat, and rowed 
away : on reaching the wreck, there was one woman hold- 
ing on the bowsprit, with a child in her arms, and another 
in the water, with her clothes burnt off, holding on by a 
piece of rope : she let go, and before I could get to her 
the child was drowned ; but we saved the woman, who 
was nearly dead ; but, after using the means which are gener- 
ally adopted, she revived. The cutter stood for the shore, 
where she landed the survivors, except the last woman ; Cap- 
tain Dyer and myself sitting up all night, endeavoring to 
bring her to, which we did. 

" I cannot conclude without expressing my sincere thanks 
for the kindness we experienced from the inhabitants of the 
islands ; to Miss S. Crocket, for supplying the females with 
shoes and other articles ; and to persons whom I did not 
know; at Vinal Haven, to the Messrs. Thomas, brothers, 
vi^ho were very kind ; and also to Captain Dyer, for taking 
the females to his house and dressing their wounds. At 
Thomaston, Mr. Allen, of the marble works, and others, 
treated us extremely well, subscribing to assist me in getting 
tjie females to Portland by the stage. 

"Such a dreadful sacrifice of life I think has never oc- 
exirred before, through neglect and want of coolness and 
courage on the part of those who had the management of 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIONS WHICH WERE BURNT. 303 

the boat. But let me conclude with David^s 60ih psalm, — 
^Our God shall come, and shall not Jceep silence; a fire shall 
devour before him, and. it shall he very tempestuous round 
about him.'' " 

The rare and valuable collection of living animals which 
composed Messrs. Macomber, Welsh, and Co.'s menagerie, 
and which were all destroyed by this melancholy accident, 
were mostly collected by hunting parties, sent from the 
Cape of Good Hope into the interior of South Africa. The 
parties, which consisted of fifty or more in number, were 
sometimes six months on an expedition to the hunting- 
grounds, so that the enormous expense in procuring them 
will be readily perceived. We will give a few authentic 
sketches and anecdotes of the most noted. 

The lions were taken from the den, when but two or 
three months old, by a party of Messrs. Welsh and Macom- 
ber's hunters in South Africa, and sent to this country. The 
party consisted of thirty-six Bushmen, Boors, Hottentots, 
and Yankees, mounted on horses, and accompanied by ten 
or twelve well-trained dogs. They had been absent from 
the cape about seven weeks, had travelled twenty-three 
hundred miles into the interior, and arrived safely on the 
borders of the hunting-ground for ferocious wild beasts. 
They stopped for a night at the hut of an old settler, and 
before morning were aroused by the barking of their dogs, 
which had discovered a lion near the premises, not, how- 
ever, until he had killed a beautiful gazelle, domesticated by 
their host. The men were aware of their inability to con- 
tend with the lion in the night, and suffered him to retire 
unattacked. 

Early in the morning, however, they set off on the track 
taken by the dogs, and in two or three hours arrived at a 
thicket of brushwood, rendered almost impassable by huge 
rocks scattered in every direction. Here they left their 
horses, and put two of the Hottentots in front, who were 
resolute fellows, and had before been present at the killing 
or capture of several similar animals. They clambered 
along but a few rods farther before they were warned of 
their approach to the enemy by the loud and violent barking 
of the dogs. The lion had so fortified himself in his po- 
sition, that he could not be seen till within a few yards ; and 



304 THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 

the Hottentots, who led the way, were on the point of ven- 
turing within his very grasp, when the glaring eye-balls of 
his lionship peered among the evergreen that partly con- 
cealed a cleft in the rocks. Tlie foremost hunters felt so 
sure of success that they fired without waiting the arrival 
of the rest of the party. The shots either missed or 
wounded only to enrage; for in an instant, and almost at a 
single bound, the ferocious animal had prostrated one of the 
poor Hottentots, and was standing over him in an attitude 
of exultation. A dozen of his comrades at the moment 
came up, who feared to fire again, lest they should kill their 
fellow, or see him devoured on the spot. There was no 
time to be lost, however, and, as the only alternative, they 
determined to take deliberate aim at his head, which was 
raised high above his prisoner, and to send the balls whiz- 
zing together at a given signal. This was done in a trice, 
and the lion fell upon the unfortunate Hottentot, who ex- 
pected every moment to be his last. In seizing him, the lion 
had torn his flesh and broken the bones of one arm, without 
doing other injury. This prize proved to be a lioness, about 
seven feet long; and, on entering her den, they were rejoiced 
to find a pair of beautiful cubs, which were now conveyed 
away without molestation. 

Of all the rare and noble beasts in this collection, the 
royal tiger of Bengal was the most splendid and powerful. 
Of enormous size, and weighing upwards of five hundred 
pounds, he far surpassed any similar animal in exhibition in 
this country. He was taken when young from the den, after 
a severe hunt of three and a half days, and a tremendous en- 
counter with the mother, who was finally maimed in her limbs, 
and dragged herself to her subterranean retreat. He had 
grown up under the eye of faithful, rigid keepers, and was early 
taught to receive the caresses of his master. At one time, 
he evinced so much fondness for a small dog that came near 
the cage, that the person in attendance introduced the young 
greyhound to the apartment of his royal greatness, who 
seemed pleased with his new companion. He was suffered 
to remain, and the tiger was not unfrequently seen to fondle 
and lick the dog, and to regard him with even more tender- 
ness than this animal usually does his mate. The dog in a 
few weeks, however, sickened and died; and no one lamented 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE ELEPHANT MOGUL. 305 

his loss SO much as the tiger, who moaned out his requiem, 
walking restlessly up and down the cage. 

The elephant Mogul was imported late in the fall of 1824, 
and, having sulfered much from a long sea voyage, was re- 
duced in weight. But he rapidly recruited, and during the 
winter he gained one hundred pounds a month. The anec- 
dotes of this noble creature, were they preserved, would 
make a long chapter, and interest all classes of readers. His 
performances in the ring would scarcely be credited, had 
they not been daily witnessed by hundreds. A word or a 
look was sufficient to stimulate him to the greatest exertions. 
He caressed his master in the best manner, and would not 
so readily obey another person. He received his orders 
with attention, and executed them cheerfully, though with 
great deliberation. All his motions were grave, majestic, 
regular, and cautious, partaking in character somewhat of 
the gravity of his body. He kneeled on either side, raised 
his master to his back with his trunk or tusks, as directed ; 
reclined at length in the ring, or walked over the prostrate 
body of the keeper at the proper bidding. This last scene 
was one of the most impressive that could be witnessed. 
From the situation of his eyes, he could not see his fore feet, 
and calculate the distance to the object over which he was 
to pass without injury ; so he carefully measured the space 
back and forth with his trunk, then divided the distance so 
accurately that the last step, before reaching the body, was 
just near enough to aflbrd him opportunity, with a long 
stride, to accomplish his feat, to the wonder of every be- 
holder. All this was done with so much care and wisdom, 
that it would seem to proceed from a higher impulse than 
that of mere animal instinct. 

Mogul was a great traveller, and, notwithstanding his 
weakness, on his arrival from abroad, kept pace with the 
best horses of the company. In one instance, when pro- 
ceeding from one town to another, he became frightened, 
and started off suddenly with such rapidity as to get entirely 
beyond the reach of his two keepers, who were mounted on 
swift horses. He ran six miles in thirty minutes, and then 
quietly jogged on as though nothing had happened. It was 
his custom in the autumn, when passing orchards of tempt- 
ing fruit, deliberately to remove two or three of the upper 
26* 



306 THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 

rails of the fence, and, stepping over, to make a meal of the 
finest apples ; and then, without direction from his master, 
to return to the road and pursue his route. In descending 
steep hills, he practised all the art of an experienced wag- 
oner. The pressure of his weight (7000 lbs.) in these 
cases was so great, that he uniformly resisted the attraction 
of gravitation as much as possible, by bracing his fore legs, 
and moving them slowly and cautiously, while he threw out 
his hind legs, letting himself down, and literally dragging 
them after him down the hill. 

Another rare animal was the gnu, which was one of the 
first specimens of this wonderfully-constructed animal that 
had been introduced into this country. The hunting parties 
of Messrs. Welsh, Macomber, and Co., in the interior of 
Africa, were directed to make the gnu, or horned horse, the 
particular object of their pursuit, and to shrink at nothing 
that would enable them to secure a full-grown animal. Two 
parties set off a seven weeks' journey to different hunting- 
grounds, and followed the traces of no wild beast till they 
started a herd of gnus. One party remained upwards of 
forty days, and were successful in catching three furious an- 
imals, which they found it almost impossible to manage, and 
it was only by fettering their legs, and confining their heads 
by strong cords to their fore legs, that they could progress 
at all in their homeward journey to the cape. It was the 
misfortune of the other party to traverse grounds suffer- 
ing excessively from drought; and their sufferings were 
for several days almost incredible, from the impossibility 
of obtaining food for their horses an'd themselves. They 
took, however, one gnu, and arrived again at the cape, 
after an absence of five months, and the loss of three 
men. 

Thus perished these noble animals, which had been col- 
lected at such an immense expense. They consisted of one 
elephant, two dromedaries, two lions, one leopard, one gnu, 
one Bengal tiger, besides numerous smaller animals, and 
birds ; with Burgess's collection of serpents and birds, and 
Dexter's locomotive museum, together with a large number 
of musical instruments. 

The Royal Tar was a fine boat of 400 tons. The whole 
number of passengers on board was eighty-five, of whom 



AERIAL CASTLE-BUILDING. 309 

attended with a supercilious declaration that he had no 
ships in want of officers, roused Mr. Page's spirit of inde- 
pendence. This was not lost on the merchant, for, imme- 
diately changing his tone, he requested the young adven- 
turer's address, assuring him that he should be recom- 
mended to fill the first vacancy. A lieutenant of the 
Bombay Marine, and Lieutenant Mickie, naval store- 
keeper, to whom Mr. Page had similar letters, lavished 
their attentions on him, and the latter in ten days in- 
formed him of an opening. Mr. Page accordingly engaged 
as second mate on board the Fanny, Captain Robertson, 
bound for China, and embarked after taking a hasty leave 
of his friends. 

The Fanny got under weigh on the morning of the 8th 
of August, 1803, and proceeded on a prosperous voyage, 
until reaching the Straits of Malacca, when, having run 
aground, the rudder was carried away. It was speedily 
refitted, and Mr. Page, in the further progress of the voy- 
age, indulged himself, to relieve the irksome duty, with 
calculating the profits and advantages which it would pro- 
duce. "When I arrive in China," says he, " I shall receive 
£80, every shilling of which shall be laid out in goods. 
These will bring me at least 50 per cent. : — 50 per cent. ? 
What do I say ? They must be bad markets, indeed, that 
will not produce at least 80 per cent. Perhaps, after all, 
however, I might agree on 70 ; " and so his calculation 
went on. "£80 at 70 per cent, will amount to so much, 
and four months' additional wages to so much more." 

The voyage being undertaken late in the season, exposed 
the Fanny to those frightful hurricanes called typhoons, in 
the East, which are common in the warmer regions, and 
attended with the most disastrous consequences. On the 
15th or 16th of September, the appearance of the moon 
prognosticated blowing weather, and on the 19th a gale 
arose. Next day the sky was throughout in a vivid glare, 
the clouds flying about in all directions, and the sea swell- 
ing in tumultuous agitation. The ship's company were 
now assured of being about to meet something unusual, 
and accordingly prepared themselves for it. At noon of 
the 21st, and the whole of the subsequent day, it was im^ 



310 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNY. 

possible, for the violence of the wind, to carry any sail, 
when, in the morning, a sudden calm ensued at eight 
o'clock. 

These circumstances anticipated the approach of a ty- 
phoon; and in half an hour it came on, in a way that baffles 
all description. Let an amazingly high sea be figured, 
counteracted, at the same time, by the force of such a 
hurricane as turned back the tops of the waves, and cov- 
ered the ocean with froth, resembling the boiling of a 
caldron. Nothing could resist the tempest ; about nine 
o'clock, the foremast went by the board, and its wreck 
going astern, tore away the rudder. Three feet water 
were then in the hold, and the ship was driving to and 
fro at the mercy of the wind and sea. All hands got 
to the pumps ; but unfortunately the mate, who had been 
affected by the extreme heat of the weather, and subject 
to derangement, was now raving mad, and the captain's 
spirits reduced to a low ebb. The chief burden of duty, 
therefore, fell on Mr. Page, who continued constantly 
cheering the men at the pumps; and, in the tumult of 
his reflections, he felt a kind of consolation, that, should 
they all be lost, his friends in England would long be 
ignorant of it. 

A dreadful scene was presented by the surrounding 
ocean ; frequently the sea could not be distinguished from 
the clouds, exhibiting a spectacle awful, terrific, and sub- 
lime ; and what was sometimes supposed a cloud, the rising 
of the ship proved to be an immense wave. But at mid- 
night the gale abated ; and by incessant pumping, the water, 
on the morning of the 23d, was reduced to nine inches. 
The ship had lost her rudder, and was drifting at the will 
of the winds and waves, though the loss of the masts would 
not have been equally unfortunate. She lay, in the midst 
of dangers, in 17^ 42' north latitude, and il2° 18' east 
longitude ; the wind was dying away, and, as sufficient sail 
durst not be carried to steady her, she continued to roll ex- 
cessively. At ten that night, the main-topmast went over- 
board, which killed one man and wounded five. After 
getting up a jury-foremast, and encountering many hazards, 
the Fanny made the coast of Hainan on the 13th of Octo- 



THE SHIP BLOWN OFF THE LAND. 311 

ber, but, in two days afterwards, was blown out of the bay, 
where she had anchored. The chief mate, laboring under 
his unhappy malady, left the ship when she first reached 
Hainan ; it was promoted by the difficulties and hardships 
of the voyage. But four men, besides his servant, having 
gone ashore for water in the same boat, were left behind, 
from the ship being blown off the coast. 

The Fanny afterwards reached another part of the island, 
where she remained three weeks, and procured plenty of 
water, though no provisions, as the natives were prohibited 
to trade with her ; therefore the allowance to the seamen 
was reduced to half a pound of pease in twenty-four hours. 
This was patiently borne by the seamen, but they soon be- 
gan to suffer from it. Previous to the vessel's departure, 
information was received from the mate that he and the 
boat's crew had been made prisoners immediately on land- 
ing ; that they had been marched across the country to the 
place off which the ship lay, and were treated with the 
greatest cruelty. This usage, he added, had brought him 
to his senses, and he now entreated to be admitted on 
board. Four of the men had at the same time stolen 
ashore in the long-boat, which was dashed to pieces by the 
surf. As the Hainanese refused to deliver up the people 
without ransom, it was resolved to resort to force ; and the 
Fanny, having four six-pounders mounted, got under weigh 
on the 4th of November, to come abreast of the town and 
intimidate the inhabitants. A native was also kept on 
board as a hostage. When under sail, the wind shifted, 
split the mainsail, and blew the ship off the land. The 
rudder next broke from the stern, when in thirty fathoms' 
water, and the vessel, again surrounded by dangers, drifted 
out to sea, with the Paracels, a dreadful reef, as yet incom- 
pletely explored, under the lee. Every hour produced some 
new hazard, until the ship at length came round upon the 
opposite tack, and drifted to the south-east, across the south- 
ern extremity of the Paracels. She continued advancing in 
the same direction until the 21st of November, when a new 
rudder was finished. 

Having the ship once more under command inspired 
confidence among her company, and that night they stood 



312 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNY. 

towards the south-east. At daylight, however, rocks and 
sands were seen in every direction, and an attempt to get 
out proving abortive, the anchor was let go. Meantime it 
was resolved to repair a small Chinese boat to search for a 
passage through the reefs, nine of which could be counted 
from the mast-head. Repairing the boat occupied two days, 
during which, though two anchors were down, the ship was 
driven nearer the rocks to leeward by every blast, and at 
times was within a mile of the nearest, over some parts of 
which the sea broke with great fury. But, on trial, the boat 
was found to be as leaky as ever, and, as no time could then 
be lost, one anchor was weighed, and the cable of the other 
cut to make sail. The reef was now about a hundred yards 
distant, and sanguine hopes of dealing it were entertained, 
whereby the ship and the lives of her crew might be saved, 
when, unfortunately, the wind changed, and drove them right 
upon it. Every means was practised to avoid the impending 
danger, though in vain ; and at one o'clock, P. M., of the 
26th November, 1803, the Fanny struck very hard, and con- 
tinued driving farther on the rocks. The mizzenmast was 
cut away to prevent her from going to pieces. By this she 
was relieved, and appeared to be fixed. Being high tide 
when the vessel struck, nothing was visible except very shoal 
water ; but, as the tide sunk, the rocks began to show their 
heads, and at low water were dry for several miles around. 
Where she lay, there were twelve feet water, and she heeled 
so much, that the yards were cut down from the masts and 
put overboard as props to support her. 

The company of the Fanny were here in a most deplora- 
ble situation — cast away on a reef formerly unknown, in 
90 44/ north latitude, and in IIS*^ 51' east longitude, and 
distant from Cochin China, the nearest coast, 250 miles. 
The first land they could make, even had they possessed a 
boat fit to carry them, was Pulo Auro, distant 850 miles ; 
their numbers consisted of fifty-six persons, and every mo- 
ment they expected the ship to go to pieces. As yet, how- 
ever, she proved perfectly tight, and promised to afford a few 
days more of a miserable existence. 

Now, the blacks, half dead with hunger before, were in- 
capable of makbig any exertion, and the captaia, wiHh Mr. 



THEY COMMENCE BUILDING TWO FLOATS. 313 

Page, took a glass of wine and water together in the cabin, 
such as in that situation is commonly called the dying man's 
glass. Nevertheless, after consulting on the most probable 
means of preservation, they resolved on cutting off the poop, 
if the ship should hold together long enough, and forming 
two flat-bottomed boats out of it. Though scarce expecting 
to see it completed, the task was set about with alacrity, and 
aided by all the Lascars but one, who swore he would rather 
die than do any thing more. Twenty-six bags of rice were 
now discovered, which proved a salutary relief. 

Mr. Page, who has afforded the materials for this narra- 
tive, acknowledges that, how^ever averse to leave his ship- 
mates, were he compelled by dire necessity, he must have 
preferred his own preservation to theirs. He, along with 
the captain and gunner, was the only Englishman on board, 
and he proposed to the former, that the Chinese boat already 
mentioned should be rendered serviceable by the latter and 
himself: both the carpenters being employed on the floats, 
no assistance could be expected from them. This boat, he 
said, would just do for the captain, his servant, the gunner, 
and himself; it could be placed under the ship's stern, with 
a few pounds of rice and some wine ready to be thrown into 
it in a moment ; after it was repaired, they could go on with 
the floats, and if the ship went to pieces, they four should 
endeavor to save themselves. 

The captain assented to Mr. Page's proposal, and next 
morning the operations on the boat began. Meantime the 
water rose in the hold of the vessel ; on the 29th of No- 
vember, there were two feet seven inches ; on the 2nd of 
December, six feet two inches ; on the morning of the 4th, 
nearly ten feet; and at noon, she was completely full. Now 
her bulk began to yield, the timbers started, and in several 
places the planks broke asunder, which alarmed the people 
that she would not hold lonoj too^ether. Fresh water also 
began to fail ; but the bounty of Providence sent two or three 
showers of heavy rain, which was caught in sails, and butts 
filled with it. 

The reef, whereon the ship struck, was every where com- 
posed of sharp rocks, excepting the spot that she occupied. 
This consisted of a little sandy bay, formed by two points, 
27 



314 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNY. 

or a prong of the reef. Being here forced up to the rocks, 
their points protected her from the violence of the sea, and 
had she not been most providentially driven on that very 
spot, or even struck a hundred yards backwards or forwards, 
she must inevitably have been dashed to pieces in a few 
hours. 

When the rocks were dry at low water, the people often 
went out in quest of shell-fish, and found a quantity of rock 
oysters ; but the taste was so strong that none except the 
blacks could eat them. Sometimes a few fish, left by the 
tide in holes of the rocks, were caught ; and these afforded 
Mr. Page and the captain hearty meals. The former once 
ventured on the reef, but the sharp coral rock cutting his 
feet like a knife, he was glad to make a speedy retreat. 
The Lascars, however, unused to shoes and stockings, and 
whose soles were consequently as hard as horn, trampled 
over the rocks with the greatest facility. 

About a fortnight after the ship struck, the putrefaction 
of the salt water and cotton in the hold, began to exhale a 
pestilential efl^luvium so pernicious, that a silver spoon placed 
between decks very soon became black, and the people 
quickly sickened from its effects. Their disorder began 
wqth an excessive swelling of the face and head, and those 
who were quite well at night, appeared so much disfigured 
in the morning, that it required some degree of skill to rec- 
ognize them. The captain was also taken ill ; but his was 
a liver complaint, aggravated by subsisting long on scarce 
any thing besides rice and salt beef: he was in a very short 
time confined to bed, and daily grew worse. The whole 
crew were infected with disease ; four men died in the space 
of a week; all the others were drooping; the carpenters 
grew depressed, and the rafts went slowly on. In addition 
to these calamities, the ship continued to yield more and 
more ; and thus her company remained until the 22d of De- 
cember. Then, to their great surprise, a sail was seen to 
the eastward, standing towards the wreck. This they sup- 
posed a Malay vessel blown off the coast of Borneo, and, 
well aware of the savage disposition of the Malays, the 
people of the Fanny were anxious to avoid any communi- 
cation with them : the reef being between her and their 



AN AMERICAN BRIG OFFERS THEM ASSISTANCE. ' 315' 

vessel, they could not approach without much difficulty. 
No signal was therefore made until she came so near as to 
show American colors ; an English flag was then hoisted, 
with the union down, as a signal of distress. The Ameri- 
can vessel then hove to, at about the distance of two miles, 
and sent off her boat : only one passage through the reef, 
over which the sea broke furiously, could admit its entry ; 
and Mr. Page, apprehensive the strangers might miss it, 
went out in the Chinese boat with three men. Reaching 
the extremity of the reef, a signal induced the Americans to 
come abreast of him, and they waved for him to pass the 
surf, which ran high. This he could have accomplished ; 
but he reflected that, should he get into deep water on the 
outside, it might be impossible for him to return to the 
wreck, and he would then be necessitated to abandon his 
companions. Such a measure was inconsistent with his 
feelings ; therefore, after ineffectual endeavors to meet, the 
Americans returned to their ship, which made sail from the 
reef, and Mr. Page returned to the wreck. 

The shipwrecked mariners, after this transient glimpse 
of deliverance, concluded that the vessel had proceeded 
straightway on her voyage. But here they were mistaken, 
for she reappeared at noon, and again sent off her boat. 
The crew made several attempts to get through the surf; 
they said they belonged to the brig Pennsylvania, from Phila- 
delphia, bound to China, had been out forty-three days from 
Malacca, and were going the eastern passage, which ac- 
counted for their being in these unfrequented seas. They 
brought a note from their captain, offering immediately to 
convey the Fanny's people from the wreck, and next morn- 
ing to take what rigging and stores might be necessary. But 
the English captain indiscreetly answered this humane pro- 
posal, by declaring his determination to take his chance in 
the floats then constructing, though any of his people who 
wished it might go. The chief mate of the American, hear- 
ing these words, took Mr. Page aside, and counselled him 
not to neglect such an opportunity, but accompany him on 
board of the brig. Mr. Page, however, restrained by a 
strong sense of duty, and apprehensive that the motives of 
his conduct might be misconstrued, replied, " that he was 



316 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNY. 

sorry the captain had taken such a desperate resolution ; he 
was deterred by duty from leaving him, but hoped that he 
would take care of the Lascars." 

With this answer, the mate returned to his ship ; when, 
his commander, learning that Captain Robertson and Mr. 
Page were inflexible, directed him immediately to carry 
them a few trifling articles, such as sugar, vinegar, bread, 
and the like, desiring him to say, that he would now take 
only four persons on board, who must be Christians. Four 
Portuguese were therefore selected, who left the wreck, car- 
rying some cordage and sails along with them, and joined 
the brifj;. Next morning she was seen at a s^reat distance, 
and at ten at night was out of sight. 

Next day, being Christmas, passed but gloomily, from a 
retrospect of many happy festivals passed at that season 
with friends at home, and contrasting them with present oc- 
currences. 

By means of the sugar and other articles, the captain's 
health was so far reestabhshed that he was enabled to super- 
intend the construction of the floats, which were at length 
completed on the last day of the year. No description can 
convey an adequate idea of their appearance. In some 
measure they resembled two large boxes or chests, the fore- 
part projecting in an angle of 45^, like English barges. 
Each was seventeen feet and a half long at the bottom, and 
from projecting before, twenty feet long above. They were 
five feet deep, five feet broad below; and as the sides pro- 
jected in the same manner as the forepart, but only to an 
angle of 15°, the extreme breadth was eight feet. Consid- 
ering the number of the Fanny's crew, the floats were very 
small, and their size not admitting of a deck, they were 
entirely open. To make them as strong as possible, planks 
had been ripped off the sides, and copper off the bottom of 
the ship ; and now other three days were occupied in get- 
ting in rigging, sails, provisions, and water. 

On the 4th of January, 1804, every thing being prepared, 
the crew of the Fanny embarked in the floats, after remain- 
ing nine weeks by the wreck on the rocks. The captain, 
Mr. Page, and other Europeans, to the total number of 
tuenty-three, were in the first, and twenty-four natives of 



THE RESOLVE TO EMBARK FOR MALACCA. 



317 



the East in the second. Their stay on the rocks had ren- 
dered their appearance famihar, and had inured them to 
those hardships inseparable from their situation. By a 
longer abode, they would have been exposed to certain 
destruction. Yet the dangers of departure in two such 
frail and insufficient vessels were little less. Wanting a 
deck, and being so flat before and in the sides, hazarded 
any sidelong sea filling these vessels, and carrying them 
down. The nearest place that could be reached, with any 
safety, was Malacca, eleven hundred miles distant; for 




The Crew of the Fanny departing from the Reef. 

though Pulo Auro was within eight hundred miles, its 
inhabitants were a class of barbarous Malays, whose mer- 
ciless disposition there was too great reason to dread. Yet 
those unfortunate mariners considered any alternative pref- 
erable to remaining on the rocks ; and hopeless as the 
object seemed, they resolved to attempt reaching Ma- 
lacca. 

Eleven muskets, with some ammunition, were taken from 
the Fanny into the float with the Europeans, judging that 
they could make better use of them than the Lascars, who 
27* 



318 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNY. 

are never well disposed for fighting. They next fastened 
the little Chinese boat astern, and, trusting in the pro- 
tection of Providence, -again committed themselves to the 
waves. 

The adventurers, however, had an inauspicious outset ; 
for, in endeavoring to get over the reef, both floats grounded, 
and beat so violently two hours, as to be in danger of going 
to pieces ; but finding a hollow, with eight feet water, they 
cast anchor for the night. However, the copper was beat 
off the bottom of one float, which rendered baihng neces- 
sary during the whole night, and the other remained 
aground. Next morning, both were got to the outside of 
the reef, with the assistance of the small boat. The same 
Lascar, who had refused working on the wreck, poisoned 
himself with a quantity of opium, whether induced by the 
reproach of conscience, or unable to bear the taunts of his 
messmates. 

When the float with the Europeans reached the sea, it 
proved to be only nine inches out of the water, whence the 
spray constantly washed in. Another plank, nine inches 
broad, was on that account run along, and over it a length 
of canvass, which still did not keep it dry. Two of the 
Lascars were then put info the small boat, and they got 
directions for steering ; and at night a lantern was hoisted 
at the mast-head of the first float, to guide the Lascars in 
the second. In the course of the following day, the inat- 
tention of the steersman allowed this float to get into the 
trough of the sea, which, breaking at the time, half filled it 
immediately ; all hands were thence employed in bailing, 
until it came before the wind. But had the same accident 
happened again, it must have been fatal to all without ex- 
ception. 

On the 8th of January, there was no appearance of the 
float with the Lascars ; and the Europeans, after standing 
under easy sail for her during the day, concluded that she 
must have foundered in the night. Thus they proceeded 
on their course, not void of apprehension that they should 
soon share the same fate. The sea ran higher the farther 
they got into the open ocean ; but the little boat astern rose 
remarkably well to the waves, and as the lives of those it 



THE BOAT UPSET A LASCAR DROWNED. 319 

contained depended on their strength, Mr. Page continually 
enjoined their vigilance. His nistructions were not neg- 
lected; but unfortunately a heavy sea overset the boat at 
eleven at night on the 9th of January. Both the men 
washed out were heard exclaiming in despair, Allah! 
Allah ! and imploring their comrades for assistance, which 
they knew not hovv^ to give. One, however, fortunately 
seized the boat's tow-rope, and was taken into the float ; the 
other was seen no more. It was a remarkable circumstance, 
and could not fail to make a strong impression on super- 
stitious minds, that two enormous sharks had day and night 
kept pace with this little boat from the time of its leaving 
the rocks. One swam on each side, generally with the back 
fins above water; but after the man was lost, they were never 
observed again. 

The boat was then cut away from the stern of the float, 
as it proved an impediment to its way ; but the sea, always 
rising higher and higher, became so tremendous about the 
seventeenth day of the voyage, as to inspire all the adven- 
turers with the utmost alarm for their safety. Their situa- 
tion, besides, was deplorable ; the captain had lost the use of 
his limbs, and a dreadful scurvy had broken out among the 
crew ; ten were incapable of duty ; their gums and throats 
became so putrid, as almost to preclude them from swallow- 
ing; wounds, healed for years, now broke out with their 
former inveteracy, and one man had just died in excruci- 
ating agony. 

Nevertheless, the mariners surmounted all their diffi- 
culties. On the 23d of January, they came in sight of the 
southern Anambas, and on the 26th were driven westward 
by the current to Pulo Tingey, an uninhabited island. Here 
they engaged in an unsuccessful search for some antidote 
against the scurvy during two days ; but they filled their 
casks with fresh water, and resumed their course. A brig 
was seen at the entrance of the Straits of Malacca, bound to 
the Island of Bentang, for pepper ; and her captain, having 
given the Europeans some provisions, counselled them to 
keep close in to the Malay shore, the straits being then in- 
fested with pirates. In a recent engagement with them, his 
chief mate had been killed, himself wounded, and his ship 
grievously damaged. 



320 THE LOSS OF THE SHIP FANNF. 

The Europeans were carried by the strength of the cur- 
rent down on the coast of Sumatra, which they were so 
anxious to avoid ; and after five days occupied in crossing 
the straits to Malacca, they arrived off the harbor on the 
4th of February. By a fishing-boat, wiiich they met six 
miles from shore, they despatched a note to the governor, 
who speedily sent two boats, with provisions and instructions, 
to tow them in. Thus they gained the shore, having been 
a whole month on such a perilous voyage, and in hourly ex- 
pectation of sinking ; the float was safely moored, and the 
sick removed to the hospital. 

Thousands now came to visit the adventurers ; and the 
gentlemen of the settlement, by the kindest attention, strove 
to obliterate their misfortunes. The captain was taken on 
shore and properly treated ; but Mr. Page preferred re- 
maining five days in the float, which, in the next place, 
was sold, with all its appurtenances, for eight hundred 
dollars. 

Soon afterwards, a vessel came into Malacca, having a 
I.ascar on board, belonging to the other float, which was 
supposed to have foundered at sea. According to his 
relation, she had steered right before the wind, until reach- 
ing a small island near the Straits of Malacca, where the 
crew went ashore for water. There the savage and inhu- 
man Malays attacked the Lascars, exhausted with fatigue 
and famine, and barbarously murdered them in cold blood ; 
only one escaped, who, stealing a canoe, reached Rhio, in 
the Island of Bentang, which forms the southernmost part 
of the straits, where he obtained a passage in the ship which 
carried him to Malacca. Thus were those unfortunate 
beings doomed to become the victims of a ferocious tribe, 
after being spared by the ocean ; and those who were 
miraculously preserved, did not cease to thank Providence 
for the mercy they had experienced. Indeed the circum- 
stances of their preservation were wonderful: first, the 
Fanny had to encounter one of the most tremendous gales 
under which a ship could live; secondly, that being wrecked 
on a reef of rocks in the centre of the Chinese Ocean, she 
was not dashed to pieces, and remained entire so long as to 
admit of two floats being constructed from the materials of 



THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE CREW. 321 

which she was herself composed ; and, thirdly, that twenty- 
three persons should sail eleven hundred miles through a 
tempestuous sea, for thirty days, in such miserable contri- 
vances, and at last gain a port of safety. 

Mr. Page obtained a passage to Bombay in the Minerva, 
which came into Malacca about twenty days after his own 
arrival there. 

The crew of the Fanny consisted originally of sixty-four 
persons, to whom were added seven, making in all 71 
Killed by the fall of the m.ast in the typhoon 1 

Died at sea 5 

Died on the rocks 1 

Poisoned himself in the Lascars' float . . 1 

Murdered by the Malays 26 

Died of the scurvy in the Europeans' float . 1 

Washed out of the boat 1 

Dead — 36 
The chief mate and his servant went on shore 
at tiainan, with four men ..... 6 

Ran away with the long-boat 4 

Missing — 10 

Portuguese taken off the rock 4 

Landed at Malacca from the float of Eu- 
ropeans 20 

Landed from the Lascars' float .... 1 

Preserved — 25 

— 71 




m 



THE MIRACULOUS ESCAPE 

OF 

A LASCAR, 

WHO WAS 

WASHED OVERBOARD DURING A GALE 

IN THE 

BAY OF BENGAL, 

AND 

After swimming thirteen Hours, without any Support, 
was picked up by a passing Ship ; June, 1823. 

lERHAPS the hand of Heaven was never 
more conspicuous than in the following 
narration. In 1823, the ship Valletta, 
Captain Eraser, on her passage from 
Calcutta to Penang, where she arrived 
in distress, on the morning of the 4th 
of June, picked up a man at sea, who 
had been struggling with the waves for upwards of thirteen 
hours, without any support. 

About 6, A. M., it then being Mr. Dickens's watch, the 
second officer of the ship — at that time a very heavy sea 
running, the ship under double-reefed topsails and foresail, 
mizzen-topsail handed, the topgallant-yards upon deck, and 
the vessel laboring heavily — thought he heard the cries of a 
man at some short distance from the ship ; on looking to 
the spot, plainly perceived something floating in the water, 
which, by the assistance of a good glass, he found was a man 
swimming towards the ship, who occasionally held up his 
hand as a signal of distress ; gave the alarm instantly, on 
which we wore ship and stood towards him, lowered the 




A LASCAR SAILOR RESCUED. 323 

gig down, and sent her, in charge of Mr. Dickens and four 
other volunteers, to the assistance of the drowning man. 
Providence favored this little band of volunteers, who, 
although in a leaky, crazy boat, succeeded in saving him. 
At half past T o'clock, A. M., to the satisfaction of all on 
board, the gig came alongside with the man, who proved to 
be a Lascar, belonging to the ship Arram, Captain Daniels, 
from Rangoon, bound to Madras. From the heavy rolling 
of the ship, the gig was nearly stove to pieces in hoisting her 
up ; she, however, had done her duty, for she had saved a 
fellow-creature. 

The poor fellow was so completely exhausted, that the 
moment he came on board he fell fast asleep. On his re- 
covery, we were of course anxious to hear his account. He 
informed us that the evening previous, about 6, he was 
forward in the head of the vessel: a heavy sea, which broke 
over her, washed him from his hold. It was then blowing 
hard, and he imagined that was the reason they could not 
lower a boat for him ; at the same time, a heavy squall was 
brewing, which, by the time it became more moderate, was 
so very dark that he could not see the ship or any thing 
else. During the night, there was nothing but incessant 
squalls, with heavy rain, every one of which broke over him : 
the hope, however, of the ship staying by him, encouraged 
him to keep up his spirits till daylight, when seeing us, and 
thinking we were his own ship, made him exert himself, 
though nearly going down. At the time of our wearing 
round towards him, he imagined we were going to leave 
him to his fate, on which he began to droop and burst into 
tears, now giving up every hope of being saved. By this 
time, the ship had wore round, and stood towards him. On 
seeing this, his spirits began again to revive, and much more 
so when, on the top of a heavy sea, he perceived our boat 
pulling towards him. He informed us that at the time we 
picked him up, he could not have lived half an hour longer. 
On the 6th of June, we fell in and spoke the Arram, inform- 
ing them of the circumstance. A boat was now sent for him, 
and the poor fellow was once more restored to his ship, ship- 
mates, and friends, by one of those remarkable events which 
plainly show us that man should never despair, as the hand 
of Providence is at all times ready to save us. 



AN ACCOUNT 



WRECK OF THE BRIG ALNA, 

ON THE 

COAST OF EAST FLORIDA, 



The Massacre of the Officers, and Part of the Crew, 
by the Seminole Indians ; and the Escape and snh- 
sequent Adventures and Sufferings of two of the 
Crew ; September, 1838. 




|N the 19th of August, 1838, the brig 
Alna, of Portland, Maine, Captain 
Thomas, sailed from St. Jago de 
Cuba, bound to Boston. Owing to 
light and baffling winds, it was some 
time before the vessel got round the 
island, when she took her departure 
from Matanzas, and left the coast with a light breeze. 
But on the 5th of September, it came on to blow very 
hard ; the sail on her was reduced, but the wind still in- 
creased, so that on the 7th it blew a violent gale from the 
north-east. The brig was about fifteen miles off the Florida 
coast, and drifting rapidly on a lee shore. A heavy press 
of canvass was now carried, to endeavor, if possible, to claw 
off. But the head of the bowsprit was carried away; and 
the sea making a clear breach over her, sweeping the decks 
fore and aft, the brig was again hove to, but drifted rap- 
idly to leeward. As it was found impossible to keep the 
vessel off the land, the captain determined to run her on 
shore in the daytime, so as to have a better chance of 



THE INDIANS SHOOT THE CAPTAIN AND MATE. 325 

saving the lives of those on board. Accordingly, the main- 
sail was lowered, and the helm put hard up. The vessel 
soon struck the bottom, about twenty miles north of Cape 
Florida, and was shortly after lifted so high on the beach 
by the heavy breakers, that the crew could easily jump from 
her to the shore. As the tide ebbed, great exertions were 
made to land the stores and clothing ; and a sufficient 
quantity of provisions and water were secured on the beach 
to last a month. Here the unfortunate captain and his 
crew remained until Sunday, the 9th of September. " On 
that fatal day, about noon," says Mr. Wyer, " the first 
Indians which appeared nigh our tent were four in num- 
ber. They were armed with rifles. The mate was pack- 
ing his clothes in his chest, which he had been drying 
that day ; and the first notice we had of the Indians 
was the smart crack of a rifle ; and at the same instant the 
mate exclaimed, ' O dear ! ' having received the ball in his 
hand, passing into the abdomen, as we supposed. The 
same Indian, being behind a tree, reloaded, and marked me 
for his next object, (myself, Cammett, and Captain Thomas, 
crouching down,) which gave me the ball through the hand, 
passing up laterally through the thigh, coming out just be- 
low the hip joint, making a journey through the flesh of eight 
or nine inches. We took to the beach, (it being warm, we 
were barefooted,) and they pursued us. Captain Thomas, 
having taken a long walk with Cammett, was tired, and gave 
out. We halted, being thirty yards ahead of him, to see 
what his fate might be. I saw him shot, the ball whizzing 
by me; and he fell on his face, and seemed to die instantly. 
After this, we expected no quarter, if taken. I felt approach- 
ing weakness from loss of blood, and feared I must soon 
give up. We very soon entered the bushes, Cammett going 
ahead. I soon lost him, and made my way along till night, 
among the palmettoes, which cut my feet cruelly ; added to 
this, were mosquitoes, which were a formidable foe. At 
dark, on Sunday night, I came out on the beach, and trav- 
elled till nearly daylight. Finding my wounds bleeding pro- 
fusely, I tore off* the bottom of my flannel shirt, and bound 
them up, — which continued to bleed all the next day. I 
lay down, and sometimes fell down, often thinking I should 
not be able to rise again. My fears were increased from the 
28 



326 



THE WRECK OF THE BRIG ALNA. 




The Death of Captain Thomas, and Escape of VVj^er and Cammett. 

trail of blood which I left behind, knowing this to be a good 
mark for them. Monday I continued to travel the beach — 
went to the river, running parallel with the sea, for water — 
ate nothing that day — came to New River, waded in to my 
neck, and swam off, finding the current setting from both 
shores to the centre, making it very doubtful to me, from 
the long time I was there, whether I could ever reach the 
opposite shore. Here I was about to despair. I finally got 
foothold and gained the shore, but found myself very much 
exhausted. I should think the river was a quarter of a mile 
wide. It was about night. I kept on — occasionally would 
lie down during the night, gathering the sea-weed to cover 
me, while asleep — when I awoke, would go on again till 
weary, and then take a nap. 

' Tuesday morning, fair weather — saw a house ahead, 
which proved to be the Patterson House, as I was told by 
the wreckers. It is a one-story frame house, and has a long 
time been vacated. I hoped here to find something to 
satisfy my hunger, but I was disappointed. Here was an- 
other river to swim. For the first time, I saw two large alli- 
gators ; and the river was full of sharks of the largest kind. 



AN UNEXPECTED INHABITANT ON A TREE. 327 

I was divested of fear, and in I plunged, and landed safe on 
the other side, feeling no enemy to be worse than the In- 
dians. I travelled on, my feet being very sore — oftentimes 
would climb a tree to see if any danger was at hand, and 
hoping to see marks of civilization, to encourage me in my 
lonely journey — ate nothing this day — swam and forded 
several small streams and creeks, which was very painful in 
my wounded situation. 

"Wednesday morning came with fair weather — continued 
my journey as the day previous — clambered a tree, and 
found a huge snake had ascended before me: he lay out on 
one of the hmbs, coiled up, as if asleep. I was well armed 
with a club, but took good care not to arouse him. His 
size round was as large as my ankle. I had been without 
food three days and nights, and was very hungry. I hoped 
to find something to eat among the wrecked matter that had 
washed up to the shore, but found nothing but dead fish ; 
and it was a hard scramble to know whether I or the peli- 
cans and other birds should be served first, as they exist in 
acres, and are so numerous that fish are all taken up before 
they get old. A dead fish was a great luxury ; and when I 
had satiated my appetite, I would put them on my hat to 
dry, while journeying on. 

"An hour or two before sunset, I saw two sail, that did 
not appear to notice me ; soon after, I saw two more, who 
were in pursuit of a Dutch brig. I now hoisted my shirt 
on a pole, and waved it with all my strength. They discov- 
ered me ; and happy was I to be rescued from the many 
perils that I had encountered. Indians, sharJcs, the mocassin 
snake, arabs, and various other reptiles, were foes in my 
\yay ; but, thank God, I have been spared to return to my 
friends, and tell my perilous tale." 

Mr. Cammett, who escaped at the same time with Wyer, 
when the captain was massacred, says, " My story, in re- 
gard to the shipwreck of the Alna, and being surprised by 
the Indians on the coast of Florida, cannot be otherwise 
than the same as Wyer's, until we entered the bushes, where 
we unfortunately got separated. I renlained quiet, in con- 
cealment, until the dusk of the evening ; then I thought it 
prudent to start. I walked across the beach to the bushes, 
to see if their trail continued — took care to use the same 
tracks back, so as to deceive them — got along the beach 



328 THE WRECK OF THE BRIG ALNA. 

five or six miles, and encountered a party of Indians. They 
saw me, and raised a horrid yell, and pursued me. I ran 
into a swamp, where the mud and water were about waist 
high. Two Indians remained where I entered, while the 
rest seemed to be surrounding me : they avoided the water 
on account of the snakes, the wreckers told me. 

"I was about an hour there — concluded it would not do 
to stop till morning, for they would get me — got out, and 
took to the shore — was careful to go so close to the shore 
that every ripple of the water should wash out my tracks — 
came across a well of water that was covered, and a village 
of low huts, said to have been some old barracks. I took 
them to be Indian huts ; as I saw no tracks beyond them, I 
was puzzled to know how to pass them. The palmettoes 
were like sharks' teeth, and made a noise in getting through. 
I was then on the border of the river — finally thought I 
would wade up to my neck, that no trace of me could be 
seen — got by in safety, lost their tracks, and began to feel 
as if I was delivered. 

" Monday, still on the river, with trees and bushes grow- 
ing to the edge. I was obliged to travel, and occasionally 
swim round — came to a place which I took to be two rivers 
that intersected this. I swam over, and found it to be an 
island covered with water, and the roots of the trees starting 
out two or three feet above ground, making a sort of bridge 
to walk on — tasted the water, and found it fresh ~ stopped 
and rested — a severe current on both sides. Seeing a 
number of sharks, I made a raft of drift-wood ; but it was 
water-logged, and would not support me — abandoned it — 
took a lot of drift-wood, but could hardly keep it under me, 
the force of the current being so severe — reached the shore 
in safety; there I found the sea-shore, and kept on till 12 
o'clock on Monday night. My feet were deeply cut with 
shells and palmettoes, and ankles so swollen, I could not 
bend them — my toes raw up between, and cruelly sore. 

" Tuesday and Wednesday, swam several streams. I suf- 
fered with the intense heat — had no hat, and was obliged 
to wet my head to keep it cool — found a tar-bucket to 
carry water in — slept on board a wreck, with nothing but 
a quarter-deck left — my neck so swollen with mosquito 
bites that I could scarcely move my head — ate six dead 
fish on Tuesday, and eight on Wednesday. Wednesday 



THE HUMANITY OF THE WRECKERS. 329 

afternoon, crawled into a large log. The hole being too 
short to admit my whole length, I took a barrel up from the 
shore to make out the length. Had a good nap — waking, 
I felt something under my chin — gave it a brush off — was 
stung that instant by a centiped — got up, looked out, and 
saw four sloops making up the shore — wind light — I anx- 
iously kept along with them, but they did not see me — no 
sleep that night. 

"At daylight, saw them standing in for the shore. I 
seised my tar-bucket to a long pole, with my knife lanyard, 
and hoisted it as a signal of distress ; they saw it, and to 
my unutterable joy I was taken on board the wrecking sloop 
Mount Vernon, where I found my lost friend, Wyer, who, 
to my astonishment, called my name from over the side of 
the vessel. Thus ended my cruel adventure; and not till 
then was I fully sensible of my soreness. Under the bless- 
ing of God, I have been saved to return to my friends in 
perfect health." 

Those who were murdered by the Indians, were Cap- 
tain Charles Thomas, Andrew J. Plummer, mate, and John 
Sheafe, seaman, all of Portland, and William Reed, of 
^alem, cook. The only survivors were Wyer and Cam- 
mett, who published the following grateful tribute : — 

"It is our humane and highly-pleasing duty to say of 
Captain George Alden and his crew, of the wrecking sloop 
Mount Vernon, that our treatment was in the highest de- 
gree kind, hospitable, over-generous — dressing our wounds, 
nursing us with parental kindness, giving us clothing, re- 
gretting, when we left, that they had no money to give us, 
and all of us feeling as if attached with the strongest ties of 
friendship. On board of the Index they were equally hospi- 
table ; and on board the revenue cutter Madison, Captain 
Howard (our old friend and acquaintance) gave us a feel- 
ing reception, and the most cordial welcome. 

" To correct wrong impressions and wicked prejudices, 
that exist against the wreckers on the coast of Florida, we 
feel bound by every thing sacred to state, that instead of 
being 'plunderers and pirates,' as they are often repre- 
sented, it is the height of their ambition to save lives and 
property. " S. CAMMETT, 

28 * " E. WYER, JuN." 



A DETAIL 



Terrible Proceedings on Board of an Italian Brig, 

THE 

ESPIRITO SANTO, 



IN WHICH 



THE PLAGUE BROKE OUT, 

DURING 

A VOYAGE FROM ALEXANDRIA TOWARDS LEGHORN} 

By which awful Visitation the Crew became unable 
to manage the Vessel, and she was wrecked near 
Castle Rossa, on the Coast of Karamania, in the 
Mediterranean Sea; March, 1833. 

BY ONE OF THE PASSENGERS, 

LIEUTENANT A. NOTT, 

OF THE HONORABLK EAST INDIA. COMPANY'S SERVICE. 

FTER several years' active duty in the 
Honorable East India Company's ser- 
vice, I obtained a furlough to revisit 
my native land, and embarked at Bom- 
bay, on the 3d of January, 1833, in a 
native vessel ; and after a dangerous 
J and uncomfortable voyage of three 
months up the Red Sea, we reached 
Suez, vi^here I disembarked and crossed the isthmus to 
Cairo. As the plague was raging with great violence in 
Alexandria, to avoid entering the city, I determined to 
proceed to Rosetta, and thence by sea to the port of 




THE SICK ARE CONFINED IN THE LONG-BOAT. 831 

Alexandria, so as to obtain a vessel without landing. I was 
accompanied by a young military friend. 

We arrived on the 13th of March, and procured a pas- 
sage on board of an Italian brig, the Espirito Santo, bound 
to Leghorn, and sailed on the day of our arrival; and, as we 
left the harbor, we could not but congratulate ourselves on 
our escape from the abode of pestilence, little imagining 
that the germ of the terrific malady was latent amongst us. 
All was bustle, gayety, and life ; the breeze was fresh and 
fair, and our little bark sprang gayly forward. Alexandria 
was on the horizon, but its domes and lofty minarets were 
fast sinking beneath it, and the sun shone upon them as 
gloriously as if its beams were not illuminating a whitened 
sepulchre. 

We had been seven days at sea, when one of the crew was 
taken ill, and died on the following evening. I was some- 
what alarmed at the account given ; a suspicion flashed 
across my mind that it might be the plague. I therefore 
requested our doctor, a young Italian, who had not, I was 
informed, rendered the man assistance during his illness, to 
examine the corpse; and he at once reported, though with 
reluctance, that he had died of that dreadful disease. The 
announcement struck every one with astonishment and 
horror. Although keenly alive to our fearful situation, my 
companions and I affected a Mohammedan calmness, and 
passed the time in either smoking or sleeping in a part of 
the poop we had appropriated to ourselves. 

Another day passed, and no one complained. Already 
had we begun to indulge in the hope that it might be con- 
fined to the individual who had died ; but the morrow made 
us acquainted with the full horrors of our situation — three 
others were simultaneously attacked with symptoms which 
left us no doubt as to the nature of their disorder. It be- 
came necessary to adopt the best precautionary measures 
left us ; and I suggested that the long-boat, which is always 
stowed in- the middle of the vessel, should be cleared for 
the reception of the infected, and such refreshment as they 
wished for was conveyed to them by long poles. Two 
speedily died, and were drawn forth by hooks attached to 
the ends of the poles, and thrown overboard ; but a third 
lingered for some hours, and in the delirium which, in 



332 THE PLAGUE ON BOARD OF THE ESPIRITO SANTO. 

plague cases, usually precedes dissolution, in spite of all the 
efforts of the crew, who stood with poles, oars, &.C., to pre- 
vent him, he crawled from the boat, and endeavored to 
make his way to the after-part of the vessel : I never wit- 
nessed so ghastly an object. Frantic at the opposition 
offered to his progress, he clutched at the decks with des- 
perate violence ; his eyes were fixed and glaring, and the 
sahva fell from his lips as he gnashed his teeth or bit at the 
staves v/hich intercepted his farther progress. Finding he 
was making his way aft in spite of all opposition, I suggested 
that a rope should be thrown over him, and the end fastened 
to the launch. My suggestions were in part adopted ; but 
conceive my horror, after he had been entangled in the 
noose, to perceive a Maltese seaman spring up the rigging, 
run the end through a block on the fore yard-arm, and pass 
it below ! In vain I remonstrated : " It may be your turn 
next," said the captain, with a fiendish sneer. I have seen 
a mad dog in a kind of area, so furious, that he was actually 
breaking his tusks against the wooden door; but when a gun 
was brought and pointed at him, before it was discharged, 
all his ferocity forsook him ; he crawled into a corner, looked 
and howled imploringly upwards. Thus it was with this 
unfortunate man. The crew had eagerly seized the rope : 
in broken accents, the dying wretch implored for mercy — 
mercy in a plague ship ! He was swayed over the side, sus- 
pended for a moment in mid air, as the seaman on the yard 
drew forth the knife from his girdle, opened it with his teeth, 
and severed the cord : a splash, one faint struggle, and the 
wild waves rolled over him forever. 

I affect no mawkish sentiment, nor describe any over- 
wrought feelings ; but never, to the latest hours of my ex- 
istence, will that man's look be effaced from my memory — 
never will the chill of horror which crept over me at the 
enactment of the last part of the tragedy be forgotten. I 
rejoined my companions ; but felt faint and sick. 

Almost indifferent to my own fate at the moment, I 
listened with apathy to an old Greek merchant, who was 
relating the manner in which the plague had been brought 
on board. What will not man risk for gain ? Our com- 
mander, six days before we left, had received, and kept con^ 
cealed in a boat towing astern, five plague patients from an- 




A Man, whilst sick with the Plague, is drawn up to the Yard Arm, and cut down 
by a Maltese Sailor — Page ^32. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A TURK. 335 

Other vessel ; and although, when the ship sailed, but two 
survived, those two were permitted, without mention being 
made of it, to mix with the crew. Under such circum- 
stances, the only wonder is, that it should have concealed 
itself so long. Those who had indulged the hope that their 
riddance of the last patient had exterminated the pestilence, 
were again doomed to disappointment. Ere the sun had 
set, two more were attacked, and about eight o'clock a third : 
all were transferred to the long-boat. 

Not a hope of our escaping if we remained at sea was 
now cherished, and the vessel's head was accordingly put 
for Rhodes. In the course of an hour, the Mohammedan 
portion of the crew were already wrapped in slumber ; the 
Christians (principally Italians and Greeks) were either 
scattered or in silent groups ; here and there a sohtary indi- 
vidual was in thought at home, meditating on wife and 
friends, and pledging his votive offering if ever he joined 
them in safety again. The wind had fallen light, and the 
waves surged heavily up the vessel's side, both mingling at 
intervals with the groans of the sufferers in the long-boat. 
My own feelings I do not attempt to describe. 1 had faced 
death before in many shapes ; yet never did I feel so utterly 
depressed. My mind had received a shock from which it 
was not doomed it should quickly recover. I watched the 
greater part of the night, and at length sunk into that heavy 
slumber which usually follows high mental excitement. 

I awoke next day at sunrise. Every thing appeared in 
confusion ; the yards were not trimmed to the breeze, and 
as the braces were hanging slack, they swung lazily to and 
fro with the motion of the vessel. The men looked pale 
and exhausted, as from long watching : an old man, about 
seventy years of age, proved an exception ; he was a Turk, 
and when I inquired how he could openly break the precept 
of his religion, by quaffing the forbidden wine, he told me it 
was medicine, and repeated an Arabian proverb, equivalent 
to our " Desperate diseases require desperate remedies." 
There was no arguing, had I felt so disposed, with such a 
philosopher. The day passed away heavily enough ; about 
noon, another dead body was removed and thrown over- 
board from the charnel house — the long-boat — and two 
more patients were deposited there. 



336 THE PLAGUE ON BOARD OF THE ESPIRITO SANTO. 

Without being ill, I had fancied it utterly impossible to 
shake off the depression of spirits under which I labored. 
It continued to increase upon me until, on the announce- 
ment of supper, I went down with the others ; but at the 
sight of the viands I felt dizzy, and a total absence of ap- 
petite. Wishing to alarm no one, I quietly withdrew from 
the table to my cabin, and had no sooner thrown myself on 
a couch, than I w^as seized with a convulsive shuddering, 
which was succeeded by a burning fever: My companion, 
who had been watching my increasing paleness, and had 
seen me retire, thought all was not right, and came to my 
cabin-door. A conviction immediately seized him as to the 
true state of the case ; but wishing to soothe me, he calm- 
ly remarked, that we should be at Rhodes in the morning ; 
and drew forth my money from a trunk, and placed it near 
my pillow. With a degree of moral courage which does him 
honor, he did not fear to moisten my lips with some vinegar 
and water which he mixed for me ; and then, quietly telling 
me to compose myself, and I should be better on the mor- 
row, he left me, to go on deck. 

I must have quickly sunk into a state of exhaustion ; for 
not half an hour elapsed ere he approached the cabin again, 
but receiving no answer, concluded that I had fallen into 
a doze ; and at a late period of the night, both he and the 
captain, after endeavoring in vain to rouse me, concluded 
I was, as I appeared to be, dead. The morning came — 
I awoke with the keenest torments : my eyeballs felt as if 
they protruded, and throbbed with fearful violence. I suf- 
fered a raging thirst ; a burning liquid seemed to traverse 
my veins ; my brain whirled ; I again passed into insensibil- 
ity, and again recovered my senses. A tumor had formed 
under my left arm : this was sufficient to confirm my worst 
apprehensions as to the nature of my affliction ; but, strange 
to say, with that confirmation returned all the strength of 
mind or firmness it may be my good fortune to possess. 
" I have escaped," thought I, " through perils nearly as great 
as tins, and, under the protecting hand of Providence, I 
may yet recover." I lay perfectly quiet, I suppose for some 
hours, and then was roused by hearing the chain-cables run- 
ning out. This ceased, and the noise was followed by low 
meanings, succeeded by louder lamentations ; yet there was 



DISTRESSING SITUATION OF THOSE IN THE LAUNCH. 337 

not the usual din nor bustle of shipboard. Eager, notwith- 
standing ray illness, to ascertain what was doing, I crawled 
forth from my couch to the upper deck, and saw no one but 
the cook and three companions ; they were crying and beat- 
ing their breasts. I learnt that the captain, and those of the 
crew and passengers who remained in health, finding they 
were sufficiently near the shore, had lowered the only boat, 
had crowded into her, and made the best of their way 
towards it, leaving myself and my companions in misery to 
our fate. Just before they pushed off, they cut away the 
anchors ; there was, however, no bottom, and we were drift- 
ing slowly with the wind and current towards the land. I 
again crawled towards the poop, where I seated myself near 
a jar of water, (for my thirst continued unabated,) to await 
further events. My companions crowded around me ; four 
persons were in the launch — two dead, and two unable to 
move, yet lingering — one, an Italian gentleman, had occu- 
pied his horrid tenement three days : their groans were truly 
heart-rending. At the distance of one hundred and fifty 
yards from the shore, our anchors took the ground : it was 
a bold, rocky-looking country, with a range of high moun- 
tains in the distance ; on the beach we could perceive the 
crew and passengers, who beckoned ns to land, but in mere 
mockery, for they had taken our only boat, had we been 
capable of managing one. My companions, half frantic at 
their desperate condition, determined, in spite of all remon- 
strances from me, to slip the cables, which they did, and 
we again drifted towards the shore. Fortunately, it was 
steep, and when we struck, we were not more than twenty 
yards distant ; but how were we to get on land ? The 
mate, who had been only suffering from slight fever, and 
was now well, at length, at my suggestion, swam to the 
shore with a rope, one end of which was fastened to a 
rock, and the other the crew made fast to the shrouds of 
the main rigging; upon this a noose was formed, reaching 
to the gunwale, in which my companions, with the exception 
of those in the launch, seated themselves, and were drawn 
by another rope to the shore. With the assistance of the 
cook, I, with immense exertion, placed myself in the noose. 
As I was drawn from the gunwale, I swung round, and 
caught the look and expression of the poor old Italian gen- 
29 



338 THE PLAGUE ON BOARD OF THE ESPIRITO SANTQ. 

tleman in the launch — it was so despairing, so mournful, 
SO reproachful, that I closed my eyes, I grew dizzy and 
weak, and, as I drew near the shore, became utterly in- 
capable of holding longer, and fell headlong into the sea. 
As I rose to the surface, a seaman put forth an oar to me, 
which I grasped, and was in that manner drawn to land, 
which I had no sooner reached, than I sank senseless. 

When I came to myself, I found my companion seated 
beside me, who said, " Before I quitted the vessel, I was 
going to your cabin, for the purpose, if possible, of rousing 
you to accompany me ; but on my way I met the com- 
mander, who told me he had just left it, and that you were 
dead, and, villain as he is, I must do him the justice to be- 
lieve he thought you were so. When, however, I still per- 
sisted in going to decide for myself, he intimated that if I 
did not forthwith step into the boat, he would push off. I 
was obliged to comply, but it was only with the hope that I 
should be able to again visit the vessel ; that hope vanished 
when we approached the shore, for the boat struck on a 
rock and stranded, one of the passengers being drowned. 
But look," added he, turning quickly to me, "at the Esyirito 
Santo — you are out of her in time." Until now, she had 
remained beating heavily against the rocks ; suddenly she 
surged heavily over to leeward, the masts snapped off from 
the boards, three or four heavy seas curled up and swept 
aver her, and the long-boat, with its inmates, the dead and 
living, was first torn from the deck, and quickly disap- 
peared : the poor wretches must have sunk without an 
effort, for we could not obtain a glimpse of them. 

It now became necessary to hold a consultation as to our 
future movements. Two Turks approached from a dis- 
tance, and upon inquiring, we learnt from them that, in 
place of Rhodes, the vessel was wrecked on the coast of 
Karamania, near Castle Rossa, and about seventy miles 
from that island. They also told us that there was no vil- 
lage nearer than six miles; and to this it was determined we 
should proceed. I was dreadfully weak ; my clothes were 
thoroughly drenched ; I had received several bruises, and 
the tumor under my arm felt very painful. When the pro- 
posal was first made, I did not think I could have walked 
ten yards j however, my friend very kindly took charge of 



THE COOK IS DELIRIOUS, AND CHAWLS INTO THE FIRE. 339' 

my money, which I had fortunately saved by binding it 
round my waist, and we set forwards : the four infected 
persons and myself forming a separate group, which kept 
aloof from the rest. About sunset, we reached the village, 
and there met a person belonging to the Russian consulate : 
to him our commander addressed himself, stating that he and 
his companions had been wrecked that day on their coast, 
and entreating for shelter and protection, until intelligence 
of our situation could be communicated to our consul at 
Rhodes : not a word was mentioned respecting the plague. 
Learning, however, we had come from Alexandria, and not 
being willing, although Turks, to encounter any risk, as they 
knew the plague was raging there, a dwelling was provided 
for us at a short distance from the town. The commander, 
and such as remained healthy, took possession of one room, 
while the infected occupied another; the latter he wished 
me to join, but this I refused. Notwithstanding the fatigue 
of my walk, I felt better, and did not despair of recovery ; 
the chance of which would, however, have been much 
lessened, had I complied with his wishes. Accordingly, I 
made a separate bargain with a Turk, who allowed me to 
sleep in his stable, where several horses were kept ; from 
him, also, I purchased a ragged carpet, and with a large 
stone for a pillow, I took up my quarters in my new abode. 
My fever increased as the night advanced. About two 
hours after midnight, I was seized with delirium, which I 
imagine was the crisis of the disorder : a thousand horrid 
and absurd vagaries passed through my brain: now the 
frantic wretch who was cut from the yard seized my leg with 
his teeth, and gnawed the quivering flesh to the bone — now 
the Italian we had left in the launch clasped his cold and 
clammy arms around me, and pressed me, with a demon's 
laugh, to his loathsome person. I preserve, however, a 
recollection of at one period much shouting and noise, and 
also that a party with torches had rushed into the shed, but 
for what purpose I knew not till the next morning. I 
recovered my senses shortly after sunrise, and learnt from 
my companion that a disturbance had taken place during 
the night in consequence of the cook, who was delirious, 
crawling into the fire, which had been kindled to dress some 
provisions ; his legs were most dreadfully burnt before they 



340 THE PLAGUE ON BOARD OF THE ESPIRITO SANTO. 

could rescue him, as no one would venture to touch him, 
and the party who entered my apartment came to seek for 
a rope to throw over him : about an hour after, he died, and 
was buried by the Turks. Suspicions now arose in the 
minds of the inhabitants as to the real state of the case, and 
nothing was heard but threats that they would massacre the 
whole party. Mine was spoken of as a most suspicious 
case, and a party came to examine me : what they saw con- 
firmed their fears, and already were the muskets of several 
ferocious and sanguinary Turks, eager for a pretext to shed 
the blood of a Christian, levelled at me, when an old moo- 
lah interfered. " Stop ! " said he ; ''I see it written on his 
forehead that his time has not yet come." As the Turks, 
disappointed of their prey, turned sulkily away, and quitted 
the shed, the old man, after fixing on me a look at once 
expressive both of pity and benevolence, approached, and 
inquired if there was any thing he could do for my comfort, 
or to lessen my sufferings. I begged for water, which was 
all I craved : he placed a jar beside me, and then left me. 
In the evening, he sent his wife with similar offers of service. 
After much expostulation and entreaty, the captain and his 
party prevailed on the governor to keep all quiet, until an 
answer should be received from Castle Rossa, to which a 
letter, explaining our situation, was immediately conveyed. 
The perils of their situation were great, for the governor 
had but to hold up his finger, and they would cease to exist. 
This danger, added to the plague, rendered my condition 
still less enviable. I passed another miserable night. Next 
day, we received intelligence that a consular agent from 
Castle Rossa had arrived ; but as he would not land, the 
whole party were marched down to the beach where the 
wreck occurred. Being heartily disgusted with my com- 
panions, who, it soon became evident, were only desirous to 
keep us with them that we might defray the whole of the 
expenses, I endeavored to persuade him, by the offer of a 
large sum, to furnish a boat, which would forthwith take us 
by ourselves to Rhodes, but could only obtain a promise that 
a boat on the following day would be sent to carry there the 
whole party ; having made this promise, the officer put off 
from the shore, and made sail for his port. The Turks, who 
had accompanied us to the beach, now turned a deaf ear to 



THE TURKS CARRY THEM IN^TO THE BUSH. 34l 

all our solicitations to be permitted to return to the village, 
but marched us off for about two miles to a little patch of 
green sward, surrounded by thickets. — '- These are your 
quarters," said the leader of the party. Ptemonstrance 
would have been useless, and indeed, in our situation, we 
could hardly hope for other treatment. Guards were sta- 
tioned around, and it was intimated, in ^ery plain terms, 
that any one attempting to quit that circle would be shot 
without ceremony. Myself and the other infected were 
directed to occupy one corner : our lodging and bedding 
was the damp earth ; our canopy the scanty foliage of a 
dwarfish oak and the blue vault of heaven. The Turks 
now sent us a sheep, which was killed, and after some 
pieces had been broiled on the fire, they were thrown to 
us; eat, however, I could not — I loathed the sight of food. 
In the evening, it began to rain, which continued incessant 
during the whole time we remained. 

I will not attempt to describe the miseries I endured for 
these two days. Hitherto, since quitting the vessel, I had 
not slept for an instant ; but on the second night, I con- 
trived to crawl near a fire, which an old Frenchman, spite 
of the rain, had contrived to keep in : he did not repulse 
me. The fever still continued, and I was now so completely 
exhausted, that I sank into a doze, which continued for 
about an hour. It had been my wish to dry my only pair 
of stockings, and I had gone to sleep with them in my 
hands extended over the fire. When I awoke, I found that 
I had completely burnt the foot off one. Crawling back to 
my own quarters, I carried with me a few embers, with 
which I contrived, with much difficulty, to dig a hollow, and 
with some of the Frenchman's store of wood, to light a 
small fire. All happiness, they say, is by comparison ; and 
as I warmed my benumbed fingers by its cheerful flame, 
and sipped a little coffee, contained in a cooking-pot which 
belonged to the man who had died last night, I poured forth 
my whole soul in gratitude to my Maker, who had thus far 
preserved me. 

On the following morning, the boat arrived which was to 

convey us to Rhodes. It was a miserable-looking affair; but 

never shall I forget the pleasure I felt when I put my foot on 

board her. I was then sufficiently recovered for my fellow- 

29* 



342 THE PLAGUE ON BOARD OF THE ESPIRTTO SANTO. 

passengers not to feel apprehension of my conveying the 
contagion ; but the two other patients were towed astern in 
a small boat. Owing to adverse winds, we were three days 
in making Rhodes, and as we had but one day's provision 
when we left, the crew and passengers were nearly starved : 
even I, as we approached the island, began to feel the pangs 
of hunger. Upon our arrival, we were put in quarantine ; 
but quarantine, the acme of a traveller's dread and misery, 
to us was an earthly paradise. We had bedding, a roof to 
cover us, and a fire. From the time we were wrecked until 
we arrived at Rhodes, (seven days,) I neither ate nor (be- 
yond the brief slumber I have noticed) slept. I had no 
other clothes than those in which I had quitted the vessel. 
That I should have escaped the awful visitation, would, in 
itself, be a subject of wonder ; but that I should have done 
so under the complicated miseries and privations described, 
is next to miraculous. 

It only remains for me to add, that the two patients who 
arrived with me at Rhodes died two days after landing ; and 
I am, therefore, the sole survivor of those who were attacked. 
After remaining twenty-nine days in quarantine, gradually 
recovering my strength and health, I sailed for England ; 
and here you see me now, v6ry grateful to Providence for 
conducting me to my native land, and not much the worse 
for the perils I underwent on the way there. 




A DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH 

OF THE 

RIVER MISSISSIPPI, 

WITH 

ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES OF ITS DANGEROUS NAVIGATION) 

AND 

AN AFFECTING ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

BURNING OF THE BEN SHEEROD, 

A STEAMBOAT, ON THAT RIVER; 
May, 1837. 




ATURE and art seem to have mutually 
combined for the destruction of human 
life in the formation of the Mississippi, 
and in the appliance of steam power in 
navigating its waters. However inimical 
to man nature may have been in the 
physical formation of this mighty river, 
with its numerous whirlpools, eddies, currents, snags, and 
other hidden dangers, art has far exceeded it in the nu- 
merous fires, explosions, and collisions of steamboats, which 
are continually taking place on its lengthy surface. We 
will give a short and descriptive sketch of this important 
and celebrated river. 

It has been the fashion with travellers to talk of the 
scenery of the Mississippi as w^anting grandeur and beauty. 
Most certainly it has neither. But there is no scenery on 
earth more striking. The dreary and pestilential solitudes, 
untrodden, save by the foot of Indians; the absence of all 



344 THE DANGERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. , 

living objects, save the huge alligators which float past, ap- 
parently asleep, on the drift-wood, and an occasional vul- 
ture, attracted by its impure prey on the surface of the 
water; the trees, with a long and hideous drapery of pen- 
dent moss, fluttering in the wind; and the giant river rolling 
onward the vast volume of its dark and turbid waters 
through the wilderness, — form the features of one of the 
most dismal and impressive landscapes on which the eye of 
man ever rested. No river in the world drains so large a 
portion of the earth's surface. It is the traveller of five 
thousand miles — more than two thirds of the globe's diame- 
ter. The imagination asks, "Whence come its waters, and 
whither tend they?" They come from the distant regions 
of a vast continent, where the foot of civilized man has 
never yet been planted ; and swelled by a hundred tribu- 
taries, they flow into an ocean yet vaster, the whole body 
of which acknowledges their influence. 

The prevailing character of the Mississippi is that of 
solemn gloom. I have trodden the passes of Alp and 
Apennine, yet never felt how awful a thing is nature, till I 
was borne on its waters, in a steamboat, through regions 
desolate and uninhabitable. Day after day, and night after 
night, we continued driving right downward to the south ; 
our vessel, like some huge demon of the wilderness, bearing 
fire in her bosom, and canopying the eternal forest with the 
smoke of her nostrils. How looked the hoary river-god I 
know not ; nor what thought the alligators, when awakened 
from their slumber by a vision so astounding. But the 
eifect on my own spirits was such as I have never experi- 
enced before or since. Conversation became odious, and I 
passed my time in a sort of dreamy contemplation. At 
night, I ascended to the highest deck, and lay for hours 
gazing listlessly on the sky, the forest, and the waters, amidst 
silence only broken by the clanging of the engine. 

The " Father of Waters," as it is called, is ever restless 
and muddy ; always filled with a great quantity of half-con- 
sumed bushes, branches, and trees, rolled rapidly past the 
shore. It is not without great exertion that man is capable 
of mastering its powerful waves. On the least neglect, he 
is lost without redemption. Unhappy he who has the mis- 
fortune of falling into the river : an invisible arm drags him 



A STEAMBOAT SUNK BY A SNAG. 345, 

instantly to the bottom, never to appear again. Thousands 
are the means employed by the Mississippi to attract its 
victims. If a month happens to elapse without a steamboat 
or some other craft being ingulfed in the agitated waves, 
all at once you hear of one of the former having foundered, 
after striking against a snag, projecting from the bottom of 
the river, or of the boiler having burst, or the boat taking 
fire, — or of a fiat-boat being totally lost: on all these occa- 
sions, human lives are sacrificed. But this is not all. Va- 
pors of a highly-pernicious nature rise in various directions 
near the banks of the river, and produce dangerous disor- 
ders. Tornadoes are also very frequent, and sometimes 
shocks of earthquakes are felt. 

The navigation of the river is rendered very danger- 
ous by the instability of the banks, and the impetuosity of 
the current, which is constantly undermining them, and 
tumbling immense masses in the river, which are called 
snags, planters, or sawyers. The trees are called snags, and 
planters, when they are firmly fixed in the bottom of the 
river perpendicularly, and appear a foot or less above the 
surface of the water. They are called sawyers when fixed 
less perpendicularly in the river, yielding to the pressure of 
the current, in some degree like the motion of a saw-mill 
saw, from which their name is derived. They are called 
sleeping sawyers when the top of the tree does not quite 
reach the surface of the water. There are also in the 
Mississippi many wooden islands, more dangerous than real 
ones, from there being a new or additional obstacle thrown 
in the way of the current. They consist of large quantities 
of drift-wood, arrested and matted together in different parts 
of the river. Many fatal accidents happen in consequence 
of boats running against snags, planters, and sawyers. Mr. 
Flint relates one which happened to the steamboat Ten- 
nessee, of New Orleans. 

" It was a beautiful morning when she started. Her deck 
was absolutely crowded with passengers; not less, I was told, 
than three hundred being on board. They cheered the mul- 
titude, waved their hats, fired their swivel repeatedly, and 
went off with unusual demonstrations of gayety. Above 
Natchez, in a dark and sleety night, in one of the furious 
cypress bends of the river, the boat struck a snag. She 



346 THE DANGERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

began to fill, and every thing was consternation and despair. 
One wretch seized a skiff, and paddled round the boat, call- 
ing on a passenger to throw his saddle-bags into the skiff, 
informing him, with great agony, that all his money was in 
them. He might have saved a dozen persons ; but he kept 
aloof, that no one could get on board. We sometimes see, 
in the very same crisis, that one man will exhibit the dignity 
and benevolence of an angehc nature, and another will dis- 
play the workings of a nature almost infernal. The en- 
gineer, who was greatly beloved, was invited to save himself 
in the yawl. His reply was noble — 'Who will work the 
engine if I quit ? I must do my duty.' They tried in vain 
to run her on a bar. She sunk, and this intrepid man, 
worthy of a statue, was drowned in the steam-room. The 
passengers — men, w^omen, and children — separated, and 
in the darkness were plunged in this whirling and terrible 
stream. The shrieks, the wailings, soon died away. I be- 
lieve it was not ascertained how many perished, but it was 
known to exceed thirty persons. The rest made the shore 
as they could." 

Of the hundred tributaries which flow into the Mississippi, 
the Red River is one of the most remarkable. Its waters, 
when full, are of a deep-red tinge ; and when low, its bars * 
discover shoals of alligators, great and small, basking in the 
sun, or crossing the stream, as though logs had found the 
power of locomotion. 

The Red River has one peculiarity — the Great Raft, 
Here the river runs through a vast swamp. The river 
divides into innumerable channels. These channels are 
closed up by logs, carried along by the current, and jammed 
together. This takes place for a length of eighty miles. 
This is a great impediment to navigation. Steamboats may 
ascend at certain seasons of the year, when the water is 
high, but with great difficulty. Keel boats make their way 
through it with great difficulty with cutting away logs, and 
mistaking their channel, and if they succeed in making their 
way, are occupied four times as long as would be requisite 
to ascend a clear river. 

On an island, in the midst of this swamp, a boatman was 
left by mistake, and subsisted nine days on nothing but one 
squirrel and the barks of trees. He relates, that he cut up 



AN ALLIGATOR ROBS A MAN OF HIS VICTUALS. 34T 

a handkerchief for a line, and made a hook of a nail, which 
he had about him: with this fishing-tackle he took a fine cat- 
fish. He carried it a little distance from the bank, and was 
cleaning it to roast ; for he had fire. As he went to the 
river, an alligator started from the mud, and made for the 
fish. In his extreme weakness, the alligator arrived first, 
seized the fish, and swallowed it in a trice. He relates 
that, in despair, he then laid himself down to die, and slept 
for a great length of time. When he awoke, the love of 
life returned upon him. He remembered to have seen a 
canoe, that had a hole in the bottom, which had been thrown 
by the stream upon the wreck of logs. The little labor re- 
quisite to enable him to roll it into the stream, caused him 
to faint repeatedly. But he finally achieved the task, stopped 
the hole in the bottom with moss and his handkerchief, 
daubed it with mud, and committed himself to the stream. 
Providentially, the boat took the right channel. This canoe 
struck a log, and turned over ; but he was enabled to hang 
on to it until he floated down to a French house. The 
Frenchman was milking his cows at night. The man was 
a living skeleton. He grasped the pail of milk from the 
Frenchman's hands, and, had he not been prevented, would 
have drunk his death. He appeared like a perfect Captain 
Riley from the Arabian deserts. It is wonderful how much 
human nature can endure before the thread of life is broken. 
We will now return to the Mississippi, and give the re- 
cital of 

The Biiriiiiig of the Ben Sherrod. 

BY A PASSENGER. 

"On Sunday morning, the 6th of May, 1837, the steam- 
boat Ben Sherrod, under the command of Captain Castle- 
man, was preparing to leave the levee at New Orleans. She 
was thronged with passengers. Many a beautiful and inter- 
esting woman that morning was busy in arranging the little 
things incident to travelling ; and they all looked forward 
with high and certain hope to the end of their journey. 
Little, innocent children played about in the cabin, and 
would run to the guards now and then, to wonder, in infan- 



348 THE BURNING OF THE BEN SHERROD. 

tine language, at the next boat, or the water, or something 
else that drew their attention. ' O, look here, Henry ; I 
don't like that boat Lexington.' ' I wish I was going by 
her,' said Henry, musingly. The men, too, were urgent in 
their arrangements of the trunks, and getting on board 
sundry articles which a ten days' passage rendered neces- 
sary. In fine, all seemed hope, and joy, and certainty. 

" The cabin of the Ben Sherrod was on the upper deck, 
but narrow in proportion to her build ; for she was what is 
technically called a Tennessee cotton boat. To those who 
have never seen a cotton boat loaded, it is a wondrous 
sight. The bales are piled up from the lower guards, 
wherever there is a cranny, until they reach above the 
second deck, room being merely left for passengers to walk 
outside the cabin. You have regular alleys left amid the 
cotton, in order to pass about on the first deck. Such is a 
cotton boat, carrying from one thousand five hundred to 
two thousand bales. 

" The Ben's finish and accommodation of the cabin were 
by no means such as would begin to compare with the regu- 
lar passenger boats. It being late in the season, and but 
few large steamers being in port, in consequence of the 
severity of the times, the Ben Sherrod got an undue number 
of passengers ; otherwise she would have been avoided, for 
her accommodations were not enticing. She had a heavy 
freight on board, and several horses and carriages on the 
forecastle. The build of the Ben Sherrod was heavy, her 
timbers being of the largest size. 

" The morning was clear and sultry — so much so that 
umbrellas were necessary to ward oflf the sun. It was a 
curious sight to see the hundreds of citizens hurrying on 
board to leave letters, and to see them coming away. When 
a steamboat is going off on the southern and western waters, 
the excitement is fully equal to that attendant upon the de- 
parture of a Liverpool packet. About 10 o'clock, A. M., 
the ill-fated steamer pushed oif upon the turbid current of 
the Mississippi, as a swan upon the waters. In a few 
minutes, she was under way, tossing high in air bright and 
snowy clouds of steam at every half revolution of her en- 
gine. Talk not of your northern steamboats ! A Mississippi 
steamer of seven hundred tons' burden, with adequate ma- 



CfREAT EFFORTS ARE MADE TO BEAT THE PRAIRIE. 349 

chinery, is one of the sublimities of poetry. For thousands 
of miles, that great body forces its way through a desolate 
country, against an almost resistless current; and all the evi- 
dence you have of the immense power exerted, is brought 
home to your senses by the everlasting and majestic burst 
of exertion from her escapement pipe, and the ceaseless 
stroke of the paddle-wheels. In t!ie dead of night, when, 
amid the swamps on either side, your noble vessel winds her 
upward way — when not a soul is seen on board but the 
officer on deck — when nought is heard but the clank of 
the fire-doors amid the hoarse coughing of the engine, im- 
agination yields to the vastness of the ideas thus excited in 
your mind ; and, if you have a soul that makes you a man, 
you cannot help feeling strongly ahve to the mightiness of 
art in contrast with the mightiness of nature. Such a scene 
— and hundreds such have I realized, with an intensity that 
cannot be described — always made me a better man than 
before. I never could tire of the steamboat navigation of 
the Mississippi. 

"On Tuesday evening, the 9th of May, 1S3T, the steam- 
boat Prairie, on her way to St. Louis, bore hard upon the 
Sherrod. It was necessary for the latter to stop at Fort 
Adams, during which the Prairie passed her. Great vexa- 
tion was manifested by some of the passengers, that the 
Prairie should get to Natchez first. This subject formed 
the theme of conversation for two or three hours, the cap- 
tain assuring them that he would beat her any how. The 
Prairie is a very fast boat, and under equal chances could 
have beaten the Sherrod. So soon as the business was 
transacted at Fort Adams, for which she stopped, orders 
were given to the men to keep up their fires to the extent. 
It was now a little after II, P. M. The captain retired to 
his berth, with his clothes on, and left the deck in charge of 
an officer. During the evening, a barrel of whisky had been 
turned out, and permission given to the hands to do as they 
pleased. As may be supposed, they drew upon the barrel 
quite liberally. It is the custom on all boats to furnish the 
firemen with liquor, though a difTerence exists as to the mode. 
But it is due to the many worthy captains now on the Mis- 
sissippi, to state that the practice of furnishing spirits is grad- 
30 



350 THE BURNING OF THE BEN . SHERROD. > 

ually dying away; and where they are given, it is only done 
in moderation. 

"As the Sherrod passed on above Fort Adams, towards 
the mouth of the Homochitta, the wood piled up in the 
front of the furnaces several times caught fire, and was once 
or twice imperfectly extinguished by the drunken hands. It 
must be understood by those of my readers who have never 
seen a western steamboat, that the boilers are entirely above 
the first deck, and that, when the fires are well kept up for 
any length of time, the heat is almost insupportable. Were 
it not for the draft occasioned by the speed of the boat, it 
would be very difficult to attend the fires. As the boat was 
booming along through the water close in shore, — for, in 
ascending the river, boats go as close as they can to avoid 
the current, — a negro on the beach called out to the fireman 
that the wood was on fire. The reply was, ' Go to h — 1, 
and mind your own business,' from some half-intoxicated 
hand. ' O massa,' answered the negro, ' if you don't take 
care, you will be in h — 1 before I will.' On, on, on went the 
boat, at a tremendous rate, quivering and trembling in all her 
length at every revolution of the wheels. The steam was 
created so fast, that it continued to escape through the safety- 
valve, and, by its sharp singing, told a tale that every prudent 
captain would have understood. As the vessel rounded the 
bar that makes off from the Homochitta, being compelled to 
stand out into the middle of the river in consequence, the 
fire was discovered. It was about one o'clock in the morn- 
ing. A passenger had got up previously, and was standing 
on the boiler deck, when, to his astonishment, the fire broke 
out from the pile of wood. A little presence of mind, and 
a set of men unintoxicated, could have saved the boat. The 
passenger seized a bucket, and was about to plunge it over- 
board for water, when he found it locked. An instant more, 
and the fire increased in volumes. The captain was now 
awaked. He saw that the fire had seized the deck. He ran 
aft, and announced the ill tidings. No sooner were the 
words out of his mouth, than the shrieks of mothers, sisters, 
and babes, resounded through the hitherto silent cabin in the 
wildest confusion. Men were aroused from their dreaming 
cots to experience the hot air of the approaching fire. The 



THE TILLER-ROPES BURNT OFF. A FRANTIC SCENE. 351 

"pilot, being elevated on the hurricane deck, at the instant 
of perceiving the flames, put the head of the boat shoreward. 
She had scarcely got under good way in that direction, than 
the tiller-ropes were burnt asunder. Two miles, at least, 
from the land, the vessel took a sheer, and, borne upon by 
the current, made several revolutions, until she struck off 
across the river. A bar brought her up for the moment. 

" The flames had now extended fore and aft. At the first 
alarm, several deck passengers had got into the yawl that hung 
suspended by the davits. A cabin passenger, endowed with 
some degree of courage and presence of mind, expostulated 
with them, and did all he could to save the boats for the 
ladies. 'Twas useless. One took out his knife and cut 
away the forward tackle. The next instant and they were 
all, to the number of twenty or more, launched into the 
angry waters. They were seen no more. 

"The boat, being lowered from the other end, filled, and 
was useless. Now came the trying moment. Hundreds 
leaped from the burning wreck into the waters. Mothers 
were seen standing on the guards with hair dishevelled, 
praying for help. The dear little innocents clung to the 
side of their mothers, and with their tiny hands beat away 
the burning flames. Sisters calUng out to their brothers in 
unearthly voices — ^ Save me, O, save me, brother ! ' — 
wives crying to their husbands to save their children, in 
total forgetfulness of themselves, — every second or two a 
desperate plunge of some poor victim falling on the appalled 
ear, — the dashing to and fro of the horses on the forecastle, 
groaning audibly from pain of the devouring element, — the 
continued pufling of the engine, for it still continued to 
go, — the screaming mother who had leaped overboard in 
the desperation of the moment with her only child, — the 
flames mounting to the sky with the rapidity of lightning, — 
shall I ever forget that scene — that hour of horror and 
alarm ? Never, were I to live till the memory should forget 
all else that ever came to the senses. The short half hour 
that separated and plunged into eternity two hundred human 
beings has been so burnt into the memory, that even now I 
think of it more than half the day. 

" I was swimming to the shore with all my might, endeav- 
oring to sustain a mother and her child. She sank twice-, 



352 THE BURNING OF THE BEN SHERROD. 

and yet I bore her on. My strength failed me. The babe 
was nothing — a mere cork. ' Go, go,' said the brave 

mother; 'save my child, save my ' and she sank to 

rise no more. Nerved by the resolution of that vt^oman, I 
reached the shore in safety. The babe I saved. Ere I had 
reached the beach, the Sherrod had swung off the bar, and 
was floating down, the engine having ceased running. In 
every direction heads dotted the surface of the river. The 
burning wreck now wore a new and still more au'ful appear- 
ance. Mothers v/ere seen clinging, with the last hope, to the 
blazing timbers, and dropping off one by one. The screams 
had ceased. A sullen silence rested over the devoted vessel. 
The flames became tired of their destructive work. 

" While I sat dripping and overcome upon the beach, a 
steamboat, the Columbus, came in sight, and bore for the 
wreck. It seemed like one last ray of hope gleaming across 
the dead gloom of that night. Several wretches were saved. 
And still another, the Statesman, came in sight. More, more 
were saved, 

" A moment to me had only elapsed, when high in the 
heavens the cinders flew, and the country was lighted all 
round. Still another boat came booming on. I was happy 
that more help had come. After an exchange of words with 
the Columbus, the captain continued on his way under full 
steam. O, how my heart sank within me ! The waves 
created by his boat sent many a poor mortal to his long, 
long home. A being by the name of Dougherty was the 
captain of that merciless boat. Long may he be remem- 
bered ! 

*' My hands were burnt, and now I began to experience 
severe pain. The scene before me — the loss of my two 
sisters and brother, whom I had missed in the confusion, — 
all had steeled my heart. I could not weep — I could not 
sigh. The cries of the babe at my side were nothing to me. 

"Again — another explosion ! and the waters closed slowly 
and sullenly over the scene of disaster and death. Darkness 
resumed her sway, and the stillness was only interrupted by 
the distant efforts of the Columbus and Statesman in their 
laudable exertions to save human life. 

" Captain Castleman lost, I believe, a father and child. 
Some argue, this is punishment enough. No; it is not. He 



THE GREAT EXCITEMENT OF STEAMBOAT RACING. 353 

had the lives of hundreds under his charge. He was care- 
less of his trust ; he was guihy of a crime that nothing will 
ever wipe out. The bodies of two hundred victims are cry- 
ing out from the depth of the father of waters for vengeance. 
Neither society nor law will give it. His punishment is yet 
to come. May I never meet him ! 

^' I could tell of scenes of horror that would rouse the 
indignation of a Stoic ; but I have done. As to myself, I 
could tell you much to excite your interest. It was more 
than three weeks after the occurrence before I ever shed a 
tear. All the fountains of sympathy had been dried up, 
and my heart was as stone. As I lay on my bed the 
twenty-fourth day after, tears, salt tears, came to my relief, 
and I felt the loss of my sisters and brother more deeply 
than ever. Peace be to their spirits ! they found a watery 
grave. 

"In the course of all human events, scenes of misery 
will occur. But where they rise from sheer carelessness, it 
requires more than Christian fortitude to forgive the being 
who is in fault. I repeat, may I never meet Captain Castle- 
man or Captain Dougherty! " 



"I shall follow this tale of woe by some strictures on the 
mode of building steamboats in the west, and show that hu- 
man hfe has been jeopardized by the demoniac spirit of 
speculation, cheating, and roguery. The fate of the Ben 
Sherrod shall be my text. 

" It will be seen from this narrative, that the loss of the 
vessel was occasioned by racing with another boat — a fre- 
quent practice on the Mississippi. That people should run 
such risk, will appear strange ; but if any of my readers had 
ever been on board of a steam-vessel in a race, they would 
not be surprised ; the excitement produced by it is the most 
powerful that can be conceived — I have myself experienced 
it, and can answer for the truth of it. At first, the feeling 
of danger predominates, and many of the passengers beg 
the captain to desist ; but he cannot bear to be passed by 
and left astern. As the race continues, so do they all warm 
up, until even those who, most aware of the danger, were at 
first most afraid, are to be seen staiiding over the very boil- 
ers, shouting, huzzaing, and stimulating the firemen to 

30* 



854 



THE BURNING OF THE BEN SKERROD. 



blow them up ; the very danger gives an unwonted interest 
to the scene ; and females, as well as men, would never be 
persuaded to cry out, ' Hold — enough ! ' 

" Another proof of the disregard of human life is here 
given in the fact of one steamboat passing by and rendering 
no assistance to the drowning wretches ; nay, it was posi- 
tively related to me by one who was in the water, that the 
blows of the paddles of this steamboat sent down many who 
otherwise might have been saved. 

" When I was on the lakes, the wood which was piled 
close to the fireplace caught fire. It was of no conse- 
quence, as it happened, for it being a well-regulated boat, 
the fire was soon extinguished ; but I mention it to show the 
indifference of one of the men on board. About half an 
hour afterwards, one of his companions roused him from his 
berth, shaking him by the shoulder to wake him, saying, 
* Get up; the wood's afire — quick.' 'Well, I knew that 
'fore I turned in,' replied the man, yawning." 

"A steamboat once caught fire on the Mississippi, and the 
passengers had to jump overboard and save themselves by 
swimming. One of those reckless characters, a gambler, 
who was on board, having apparently a very good idea of 
his own merits, went aft, and before he leapt overboard, 
cried out, ' Now, gallows, claim your own ! ' " 




AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT 

OF 

A BOAT CONTAINING NINE NATIVES, 

WHICH WAS 

BLOWN OFF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS, 

IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, 



Was swept by a south-west Monsoon across the great 
Bay of Bengal, to the Coast of Siain, a Distance 
of more than Two Thousand Miles ; July, 1836. 



UST as the sun was setting, in the lurid 
haze of a south-west monsoon, on the 
20th of July, 1836, the inhabitants of 
Tavoy, on the western coast of Siam, 
were astonished by the aspect of a sin- 
gular-looking craft, which made its ap- 
pearance off that place. And though 
apparently not a decked vessel, yet she 
loomed large in the hazy horizon. As she came bounding 
before the gale, her singular build and rig, and the fragment 
of sail which she carried, being composed of alternate strips 
of purple and white matting, all conspired to excite in the 
breasts of the spectators the strongest curiosity, not unmixed 
with those superstitious fears pecuhar to the Siamese. On 
her arrival at the entrance of the bay, it was evident, by her 
yawing about, that her crew were undecided what course to 
take, as the ground swell was rolling in heavily, and a tre- 
mendous surf was breaking on the shelving beach, in front 
of the village, the dangers of which could be plainly seen 
by those on board. After remaining some time in this ap- 




356 A BOAT BLOWN OFF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 

parently wavering state, she rounded to, and ran under the 
lee of a hill on the southern point of the bay ; and was last 
seen taking in her party-colored sail and corning to anchor. 
The gale, which had lulled, now set in with renewed vio- 
lence ; and, notwithstanding the superstition of many, by 
the exertions of some English traders at the place, a large 
fire was made on the shore, and kept burning through the 
night. And those who watched and replenished it, heard, 
at intervals, the sound of a conch-shell, blown by those on 
board, mingled with the wailings of the blast; which be- 
tokened that these spirits of the deep had not vanished with 
the departed light. 

At the earliest dawn, the strand was thronged by the 
eager and curious inhabitants. The gale having subsided, 
her grotesque crew weighed the anchor, hoisted the purple 
and white sail, and steered for the moorings, in front of the 
village. From her singular appearance, being high out of 
water, and covered with carved work from stem to stern, — 
all weather-bleached, rent, and ragged, — one would have 
supposed she had floated at random on the ocean for years. 
Although she proved to be a great curiosity, and the ad- 
ventures, manners, and customs, of her crew of great in- 
terest, yet the illusions of the superstitious were dispelled 
by her proving to be an unfortunate boat belonging to the 
Maldive Islands. As far as their language could be under- 
stood, it appears that they were passing from Atoll Male, or 
King's Island, to Atoll Sonadiva, when a violent storm 
arose, which broke off their mast about one third of its 
length above deck, injured their rudder, and thus left them 
in a perilous situation upon the tempestuous ocean. And 
in this helpless state they had drifted entirely across the 
great Bay of Bengal, and reached Tavoy, on the western 
coast of Siam. They had not suffered any very severe pri- 
vation, being providentially laden with rice, and the inces- 
sant rains from the monsoon, added to their original stock 
of water, gave them a goodly supply. The broken mast 
afforded them fire- wood. They stated that they were drifted 
across the bay in a month and a half; but their computation 
of time could not be exactly depended upon : if correct, 
their boat must have been drifted along about fifty miles per 
day, which, with the current and south-west monsoon, was 



A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS. 35T 

not improbable. Their boat was about six tons' burden, the 
hull built of cocoa tree, without a single iron nail in it ; there 
was a commodious berth towards the stern, and a kind of 
matted deck in the forepart, but quite unfit to throw off the 
water ; and it is marvellous that an open boat of this de- 
scription was not swamped. They had on board a rude 
compass, with a rough chart of their own islands and the 
Bay of Bengal, and a wooden instrument, shaped somewhat 
like the letter T, with which they professed to be able to find 
the latitude, when trading amongst their own islands ; but 
beyond that range it was of no use, for when they sighted 
land near Tavoy, they imagined it was part of the Chitta- 
gong coast. The men appeared to be a mixture of Arabs 
and western coast Indians. They were nine in number, of 
a robust make, olive complexion, and well featured. They 
appeared naturally ingenious, from the manner in which the 
boat was fitted inside, and the various implements on board. 
They professed the Mohammedan faith, and had two reli- 
gious books on board, written in the Arabic character, but in 
the Maldive language. They could not endure dogs, and 
said there was not one on their island. 

Notwithstanding they all arrived in tolerable health, yet, 
owing to change of diet and climate, one of them sickened 
and died soon after their arrival ; and they were permitted 
by the Siamese to bury him in the Maldivian manner. They 
took the corpse and wrapped it up in cotton, with the right 
hand placed on the ear, and the left on the thigh. It was 
then laid on the right side, in a coffin of candou wood, and 
carried to the place of interment. The corpse was laid in 
the grave, with the head towards Mohammed's tomb ; and 
after being deposited, the grave was filled up with white 
sand, sprinkled with water. 

The Maldivian manner of burying at sea is to take the 
body and wash it, and put it into a coffin, with a written 
palm leaf, mentioning his religion, and requesting those who 
may meet with the corpse to give it decent interment. They 
then put a pearl in its mouth, sing over it, and, after having 
completed their ceremonies, they place it on a plank of can- 
dou wood, and commit it to the waves. 

Though the Maldivians are Mohammedans, yet they pre- 
serve many pagan customs ; for when crossed at sea, they 



358 A BOAT BLOWN OFF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 

pray to the king of the winds ; and in every island there is 
a place where those who have escaped danger make offer- 
ings to him of little vessels, made for the purpose, in which 
they put fragrant woods, flowers, and other perfumes,, and 
then turn the vessel adrift, to the mercy of the waves. Such 
are the superstitious notions they have of this airy king, that 
they dare not spit to windward for fear of offending him ; 
and all their vessels being devoted to him, they are kept 
equally clean with their mosques. They impute crosses, 
sickness, and death, to the devil ; and in a certain place 
make him offerings of flowers and bouquets, in order to 
pacify him. 

The Maldives were the first islands discovered by the 
European navigators, on their arrival in the Indies. They 
are situated in the Northern Indian Ocean, about five hun- 
dred miles from Ceylon, and reach from one degree south to 
seven degrees north latitude. They extend about six hun- 
dred miles in length, and are upwards of one hundred in 
the broadest part. They are numerous, but many of them 
are only large hillocks of sand. But, in general, they are 
very fertile, and in particular produce great quantities of 
millet, and another grain much like, of both of which they 
have two harvests every year. 

The water among these islands is of a dark color, and at 
the bottom of the channels is found a substance like white 
coral, which, when boiled in cocoa water, greatly resembles 
sugar. There is a very dangerous snake that frequents the 
borders of the sea. 

The houses of the common people are built of cocoa 
wood, and covered with leaves, sewed one within another. 
But the better sort have their houses built of stone, which 
is taken from under the flats and rocks in the following 
manner. Among other trees in these islands, is one called 
candou, which is exceeding soft ; and when dry, and sawed 
into planks, is much lighter than cork. The natives, who 
are excellent swimmers, dive under water, and, having fixed 
upon a stone fit for their purpose, they fasten a strong rope 
to it: after this, they take a plank of candou wood, which, 
having a hole bored in it, is put on the rope, and forced 
down quite to the stone ; they then run a number of other 
boards, till the light wood rises up to the top, dragging the 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE KING. 359' 

stone up with it. By this contrivance the natives got up the 
cannon and anchors of a French ship, which was cast away 
there in the beginning of the last century. 

The Maldivians are, in general, a very polite people, par- 
ticularly those on the Island of Male ; they are very ab- 
stemious in their diet, and naturally very cleanly ; when 
they rise in the morning, they immediately wash themselves, 
rub their eyes with oil, and black their eyebrows. 

Male, on which these adventurers belonged, is the resi- 
dence of the king. It is situated in the centre of the rest, 
and is about five miles in circumference. The king has 
here a magnificent palace, in which his beds are hung, hke 
hammocks, between two pillars, ornamented with gold ; and 
when he lies down, he is rocked to sleep by his attendants. 
His usual dress consists of a coat made of fine white cloth, 
or cotton, with white and purple edgings, fastened with but- 
tons of solid gold ; under this is a piece of red embroidered 
tapestry, that reaches down to his heels, and is fastened with 
a large silk girdle, fringed, and a great gold chain before, 
with a lock formed of the most precious and valuable stones. 
The grandees and soldiers wear long hair ; but the king's 
head is shaved once a week ; he goes barelegged, but wears 
sandals of gilt copper, which must not be worn by any other 
persons except those of the royal family. When he goes 
abroad, his dignity is particularly distinguished by a white 
umbrella, which no other persons, except strangers, are per- 
mitted to use. He has three pages near his person, one 
of whom carries his fur, another his sword and buckler, and 
a third a box of betel and areka, which he almost constantly 
chews. 

These islands are happily situated for producing mutual 
commerce to the respective inhabitants ; for though they 
are in the same climate, and all of them very fertile, yet 
they produce such different commodities, that the people 
in one island cannot live without what is found in another. 
The inhabitants have likewise so divided themselves, as 
greatly to enhance this commercial advantage; for all the 
weavers live in one island, the goldsmiths in another, and 
so on of the different manufactures. In order, however, to 
make the communication easy, these artificers and traders 
have boats built high on both sides, in which they work, 



360 A BOAT BLOWN OFF THE MALDIVE ISLANDS. 

sleep, and eat, while sailing from one island to another, to 
expose their goods to sale ; and sometimes they are out a 
considerable time before they return to their fixed habita- 
tions. It was during one of these excursions that the boat 
which reached Tavoy was overtaken by the south-west 
monsoon. 

That periodical storm, called the south-west monsoon, 
commences about the beginning of June. Its approach is 
announced by vast masses of clouds, that rise from the In- 
dian Ocean, and advance towards the north-east, gathering 
and thickening as they approach the islands and main land. 
After some threatening days, the sky assumes a troubled ap- 
pearance in the evening ; and the monsoon, in general, sets 
in during the night. It is attended with such a thunder-storm 
as can scarcely be imagined by those who have only seen 
that phenomenon in a temperate climate. It generally be- 
gins with violent blasts of wind, which are succeeded by 
floods of rain. For some hours, lightning is seen without 
intermission ; sometimes, it only illumines the sky, and shows 
the clouds near the horizon ; at others, it discovers the dis- 
tant hills, or vessels, and leaves all else in darkness, when 
in an instant it appears in vivid and successive flashes, and 
exhibits the nearest objects in all the brightness of day. 
During all this time, the distant thunder never ceases to roll, 
and is only silenced by some nearer peal, which bursts upon 
the ear with such a sudden and tremendous crash, as can 
scarcely fail to strike the most insensible heart with awe. 
At length, the thunder ceases, and nothing is heard but 
the continued pouring of the rain, and the rushing of the 
mighty gale. 




THE FIGHTS AND ADVENTURES 

OF THE 

CREW OF THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY'S SHIP 

THE 

ST. NICHOLAI, 



A Sojourn of a Year amongst the hostile Natives of the 
North'West Coast of America ; November, 1808. 

BY THE SUPERCARGO. 




UR ship was bound for the coast of New 
Albion. On the 29th of September, 1808, 
we were opposite Vancouver's Cape Flat- 
tery, in 48° 25' N. latitude. We followed 
the coast during several days, for the pur- 
pose of sketching it. The natives came 
out in great numbers, and sometimes we 
were surrounded by more than one hundred 
of their boats, which, although small, gen- 
erally held from three or four to ten people. 
We never allowed more than three at a time to come on 
board — a caution which seemed the more necessary, as they 
were all armed. Several of them had muskets; others had 
arrows pointed with stags' antlers, iron lances without han- 
dles, and bone forks fixed on long poles ; moreover, they 
had a species of arms made of whale-ribs, of the shape of 
a Turkish sabre, two inches and a half long, a quarter of 
an inch thick, and blunt on both edges : this weapon, we 
understood, they used in their night attacks, so common 
among these savages, killing their foes while asleep. 
31 



362 A SIIIFWHECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

They offered to us sea-otters, reindeer-skins, and fish, 
for sale. For a large fish we paid them a string of blue 
beads, a quarter of an arshin long, and from five to six 
wershok of glass beads ; but for beaver-skins they would 
take nothing less valuable than broadcloth. 

A few days after this, we had a violent storm, which 
lasted for three days, the wind blowing from the south ; at 
length, a sudden calm ensued, but the motion of the waves 
continued very high. At daybreak, the fog, which had till 
then surrounded us, disappeared, and we saw the shore at 
the distance of about ten or twelve miles. The calm ren- 
dered the sails useless, and the high waves would not allow 
us to have recourse to the oars ; the current, therefore, 
carried us rapidly towards the shore. We thought our- 
selves lost, when happily a north-westerly breeze sprang up, 
by the help of which we got out of our perilous situation. 
Soon, however, a new storm arose, which was again inter- 
rupted by a calm ; and at last, on the 1st of November, 
after much anxiety, and still more unavailing labor, our ship 
was cast on shore in 47° 66^ N. latitude, nearly opposite the 
Island of Destruction. Happily, the ship had run on soft 
ground, and during high water ; when the tide, therefore, 
had receded, we found her still entire, although she had 
been terribly shaken, and was half full of water. There 
was, however, no possibility of saving her; we therefore 
went on shore, taking with us the guns, muskets, ammuni- 
tion, and every other article which we thought we might 
find useful in our desolate state. Our first care, when 
landed, was to clean and load our fire-arms, as we had 
every mo[nent reason to expect a visit from the natives, 
against whose cupidity and savage fury we had no other 
security than our resolution. This being done, we made 
two tents with our sails, and had scarcely finished, when we 
saw a host of savages pouring down upon us. The mate, 
accompanied by four hunters, had gone on board, for the 
purpose of taking down the tackling from the ship. They 
had taken a burning match with them, there being still a 
few guns left in the brig. The captain, standing near her, 
gave the necessary orders, while I had the charge of watch- 
ing the motions of the enemy and guarding our Httle 
camp. 



A FIGHT. THE NATIVES ARE WORSTED. 363 

Our tent was occupied by Mrs. Bulugin, (the captain's 
Wife,) an Aleootskian, from Kadjak, a woman of the same 
nation, myself, and two natives, who had joined us without 
any invitation. One of them, a toen, (elder,) invited me 
to his hut, which, he said, was not far off; but prudence 
restrained me from accepting this invitation. I endeavored 
to inspire him with a friendly feeling towards us, and he 
promised that he would not injure us, and would also en- 
deavor to prevent his countrymen from doing so. In the 
mean time, however, I was informed that the Koljushes were 
carrying off our stores. I entreated our people to bear with 
them as much as possible before they proceeded to hostili- 
ties, and represented to the toen the impropriety of the con- 
duct of his party, and begged him to induce them to desist. 
But as we could not converse freely, it took me some time 
to convey my sentiments to him, and in the mean while the 
question was decided without our interference. Our, people 
began to drive the savages away, and they, in return, pelted 
them with stones. As soon as I was informed of this, I 
rushed out of the tent; but at the same moment our hunters 
fired, and I was pierced in the chest with a lance. I. ran 
back for a musket, and on coming out again saw the man 
who had wounded me ; he held a lance in one hand, and in 
the other he had a stone, which he hurled at my head with 
such violence as to make me stagger to the ground ; I fired, 
however, and he fell down dead. The savages soon took 
to flight, leaving two dead behind, and carrying one dead 
and a great many wounded with them. On our side, there 
were few who had not received some hurt or other, with the 
exception of those who had been on board. Our captain 
had been stabbed in the back. A great many lances, cloaks, 
and hats, which strewed the field of battle, formed our tro- 
phies of this sad victory. 

We spent a comfortless night, and in the morning went 
to examine the country, with a view of finding a spot where 
we might winter in safety ; but we found the whole of the 
coast covered with thick forests, and so low, that at high 
water it would be overflowed; it was, consequently, in no 
way adapted for our purpose. The captain therefore col- 
lected us together, and informed us, that by next spring the 
Company's ship Kadjak would touch upon this coast, in a 



364 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 




The Russians are attacked by the Natives. 

harbor not more than sixty-five miles distant from the spot 
where we then were, to which harbor he proposed that we 
should immediately proceed. As there was neither bay nor 
river marked on the chart which could impede our journey, 
he thought it might be very speedily accomplished ; and that, 
while the savages were engaged in plundering the vessel, we 
should have nothing to fear from them, since they could de- 
rive no advantage from annoying usi We all, therefore, 
unanimously replied, " Be it as you propose ; we shall not 
disobey you." 

Thus we entered upon our march, each of us armed with 
two muskets, one pistol, a quantity of ammunition, besides 
three barrels of powder, and some provisions, which we car- 
ried with us. Previously to our departure, however, we had 
taken care to spike the guns, destroy the muskets, and throw 
them, together with the remaining gunpowder, pikes, hatch- 
ets, and other iron tools, into the sea. We crossed a river 
in our boat; and, after advancing about twelve miles through 
the forest, we stopped for the night, and, having set our 
watches, passed it without being disturbed. 



THE RUSSIANS TAKE REFUGE IN A CAVE. 365 

. In the morning, we continued our route, left the forest, 
and again approached the coast, where we halted, in order 
to clean our ^re-arms. About 2 o'clock, P. M., we were 
overtaken by two savages, one of whom was the toen who 
liad visited us on our first landing. They gave us to under- 
stand that, by following the coast, we should meet with many 
impediments, both from its sinuosities and from the rocks, 
of which latter they reported that some were impassable. 
They also showed us a beaten track through the forest, 
which they advised us to follow, after which they prepared 
to leave us. Before their departure, however, I endeavored 
to give them a more formidable idea of the power of our fire- 
arms, by firing with a rifle at a small ring, marked upon a 
board, at a distance of one hundred and twenty feet. The 
ball pierced the board where I had marked it ; and the sav- 
ages, after having examined the aperture and measured the 
distance, departed. 

During the night, a violent storm arose, accompanied by 
rain and snow ; and, the bad weather continuing through the 
following day, we were obliged to wait in a cave till it was 
over. During all this time, we were beset by the savages, 
who frequently rolled stones upon us from the top of the 
hill. The weather clearing up the next morning, we pur- 
sued our journey till we reached a stream of some depth, 
which we followed on a beaten path, in the hope of meeting 
with a shallow part where we might ford it. Towards even- 
ing, we arrived at a large hut. The inhabitants had left; but 
a fire was still burning near it, and it contained a large sup- 
ply of dried kishutches, (a species of salmon,) and opposite 
to it poles were fixed in the water for the purposes of fishing. 
We took twenty-five of these fish, for which we left about 
six yards of beads by way of payment; after which we en- 
camped for the night, about two hundred yards from it, in 
the forest. 

In the morning we perceived that we were surrounded by 
a troop of savages, armed with lances, forks, and arrows. J 
went forward, and fired my piece over their heads, which 
had the desired eflfect ; for they immediately dispersed, and 
hid themselves amongst the trees, and allowed us to proceed. 
In this manner we had continually to contend against the 
savages, whom we endeavored to avoid, but who were con- 
31* 






366 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

stantly besetting us, watching for a favorable moment for 
annihilating us. 

On the 7th of November, we met with three men and a 
woman, who gave us some dried fish, speaking at the same 
time very ill of the tribe among whom we had hitherto suf- 
fered so much, and extolling their own. They followed us 
till the evening, when we reached the mouth of a small 
river, on the opposite side of which stood a village, consist- 
ing of six huts. Here they advised us to wait till high 
water tide, which would come on during the night, when 
they would get us boats to pass us over, adding, that it 
would not be safe to cross at low water. ¥/e felt, however, 
no inclination to trust ourselves in their hands during the 
night, and therefore retired to some distance, where we en- 
camped till the next morning. 

When we came again to the mouth of the river, we saw 
nearly two hundred savages near the huts ; but as we could 
obtain no answer to any of our questions respecting a pas- 
sage, we proceeded upwards in search of a ford. As soon 
as the natives perceived our intention, they sent us a boat 
rowed by two men, who were completely naked. As this 
boat could not have held above ten people at a time, we 
begged them to send us another, that we might all cross at 
the same time. They complied with our request in sending 
a second boat, but so small a one that not more than four 
persons could sit in it. It was attended by the woman 
whom we had met the day previous. The small boat was 
assigned to Mrs. Bulugin, a male and a female Aleootskian, 
and a youth who had been apprenticed on board the ship, 
whilst nine of the boldest hunters embarked in the other, 
the others remaining on the bank. As soon as the great 
boat had reached the middle of the stream, the savages who 
pulled it drew out a piece of wood which closed a hole 
which had been purposely made at the bottom of it, threw 
themselves into the water, and swam on shore. The boat 
was carried along by the current, and came at one period so 
near the opposite shore, that all our people in it were wound- 
ed by the darts and arrows which the savages threw at them ; 
but, fortunately, the current took an opposite direction, and 
they succeeded in landing on our side at the moment when 
the boat began to sink. Those in the small boat, however, 



ONE OF THE CREW IS ABANDONED IN THE WOODS. 367 

all fell into the hands of these treacherous barbarians, who, 
justly supposing that the muskets which had been in the 
boat must have become useless by the wet, now crossed 
over in order to attack us. We, on our part, intrenched 
ourselves as well as circumstances would admit. After they 
had placed themselves in a line opposite to our position, they 
began shooting their arrows at us, and once even fired a 
musket ; luckily, however, we had a few muskets left dry, 
with which we ultimately succeeded in driving off our ene- 
mies, after having v»^ounded several of them and killed two. 
We, on our side, had one man mortally wounded ; and as 
we would not allow him to fall a victim to those barbarians, 
we carried him along with us ; but before we had advanced 
one mile, his sufferings became so great that he begged us 
to leave him to die in the forest, since our carrying him 
with us could not save him, and would only impede our 
flight ; we therefore took leave of our dying companion, 
and proceeded onwards for some distance. At length we 
encamped in a convenient spot in a hilly part of the 
forest. 

Now that our immediate danger was over, we began to 
reflect on our horrible situation. Our poor captain, in par- 
ticular, who had lost a wife whom he loved more than him- 
self, suffered an anguish beyond description. We could 
not conceive whence all the savages we had seen could have 
come, and how they could possibly be the inhabitants of 
those few huts. But we afterwards learned that they had 
assembled from all parts of the coast for the purpose of in- 
tercepting us, and that there were amongst them above fifty 
of those who had made the first attack upon us on our being 
cast on shore. Some had come even from Cape Greville, 
in 470 2V latitude. 

During the 9th, 10th, and 11th, it rained incessantly, and 
we wandered about the hills, scarcely knowing where, but 
only anxious to hide ourselves from the natives, whom we 
dared not meet in such unfavorable weather, our fire-arms 
having become perfectly useless. We suffered dreadfully 
from hunger, and were compelled to feed upon sponges, the 
soles of our boots, our furs and musket-covers. At last, 
however, even these wretched means failed likewise, and we 
again approached the last-mentioned river j but discovering 



363 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

two huts, and fearing to encounter the savages, the weather 
being still wet, we again retreated into the forest, where we 
passed the night. On the 12th, our last morsel of bread 
being consumed, and the quantity of sponges found not 
proving sufficient for sixteen men, we killed our faithful 
companion, a dog, and shared his flesh amongst us. Our 
distress had now arrived at such a pitch, that our captain 
resigned his command into my hands, with the approbation 
of the whole crew, declaring himself unable to conduct us 
any longer. 

On the 13th, the rain continued. On the 14th, the 
weather cleared up, and we resolved to attack the two huts 
which we had noticed. We found them deserted by all 
their inmates, except a lad about thirteen years of age, who 
was a prisoner. This lad informed us that the owners of 
these huts had hastily crossed the river, on noticing our 
footmarks. 

After taking twenty-five dried fish for each man, we 
again retreated to the woods. We had not proceeded far, 
however, when we saw one of the natives running after us, 
apparently with the intention of making some communica- 
tion ; but as we were apprehensive lest he should discover our 
retreat, we aimed at him with our muskets, and thus forced 
him to retreat. We then advanced until we reached the 
edge of a rivulet, where our party halted. I then went, 
with one of the hunters and an Aleootskian, to a neighbor- 
ing hill, for the purpose of reconnoitring. The hunter led 
the way, but had scarcely reached the summit, when I saw 
an arrow pierce his back. I immediately called out to the 
Aleootskian to draw the arrow out of the wound, but at the 
same moment he was wounded himself. I immediately 
looked round, and perceived a number of savages on a hill 
on the opposite side, and about twenty others running to- 
wards us, with the intention of cutting us oflf from our com- 
rades. The arrows fell about us like hail. I fired my rifle, 
and wounded one of the savages in the leg, which induced 
the whole party to take to their heels, carrying the wounded 
man with them on their shoulders. The wounds of our two 
men proved slight ; and we remained on this spot for two 
days, in order to recruit our strength. 

Finding it impracticable to reach the harbor this season, 



EFFORTS ARE MADE TO RANSOM MRS. BULUGIN. 369 

having no means of crossing the river, we resolved to follow 
the stream upwards, till we should reach a convenient spot 
for fishing, where we intended to intrench ourselves for the 
winter; after which we might act according to circumstances. 
This march was a very laborious one, for we were frequently 
compelled to leave the banks of the river on account of the 
thick underwood and rugged precipices with which they were 
lined ; the rain, moreover, was incessant. After several 
days' journey, our progress in a straight line did not exceed 
twenty wersts. We were fortunate enough, however, to 
meet occasionally with some of the natives fishing in their 
boats on the river, who consented to sell us a few fish for 
beads and other trifles. At last, worn out with fatigue and 
hunger, we reached two huts ; and necessity again compelled 
us to make a forced purchase of fish, as the inhabitants were 
at first unwilling to sell us any, alleging that the high water 
allowed the fish to pass over the frame-work which they had 
laid across the river, and rendered them scarce. 

We encamped at a short distance, and on the following 
morning were surprised by the arrival of two of the natives, 
who, after some general conversation, desired to know 
whether we were not inclined to ransom Anna, (Mrs. Bulu- 
gin.) Mr. B. instantly oflfered his last cloak, and every one 
of us adding some part of his clothes, we soon formed a 
considerable heap, which we cheerfully offered for the ran- 
som of the unfortunate captive. But the savages insisted 
on having four muskets in addition, declaring that their 
countrymen would not part with her for a lower price. Not 
wishing to give them an absolute denial, we demanded that 
we should be allowed to see the lady before we took further 
steps. The savages consented, and she soon appeared, at- 
tended by a great number of them, on the opposite shore. 
At our request, two men accompanied her in a boat, till 
within fifteen or twenty fathoms of us, where we again be- 
gan bargaining for her. It would be in vain to attempt a 
description of the ensuing scene. The unfortunate couple 
were melted into tears, and their convulsive sobs almost de- 
prived them of utterance. We also wept ; and none but 
the unfeeling natives remained unmoved. The lady told 
her husband that she had been humanely and kindly treated, 
that the other prisoners were also alive, and now at the 



L 



370 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

mouth of the river. In the mean time, the natives persisted 
in their demand of four muskets ; and finding us unyield- 
ing on this point, they at length carried their prisoner back 
again to the opposite shore. Mr. Bulugin, upon this, as- 
suming the air of a commander, ordered me peremptorily to 
deliver up the muskets. In vain did I urge the impolicy of 
such an act, representing that having but one serviceable 
musket for each man left, the giving up of so many, which 
would be immediately employed against us, would lead to 
our certain destruction. He persisted in his demand, till 
the men all declared that they would not separate them- 
selves from their muskets at any price. In thus determin- 
ing, we all felt deeply for the distress of the poor man ; but 
when it is considered that our lives or liberty were at stake, 
our conduct will be judged leniently. After this sad event, 
we pursued our journey for several days, till we were sud- 
denly stopped by a heavy fall of snow ; and as there was 
no appearance of its melting speedily, we began to clear a 
spot, and collect materials to build a house, residing in the 
mean time in temporary huts. We constantly saw boats 
with natives on the river ; and one day, a youth, the son of 
a toen, with two other men, landed with his canoe, and paid 
us a visit. He told us that their hut was not far off; and on 
our offering to send one of our men with them, for the pur- 
pose of purchasing provisions, they seemed highly pleased, 
expecting, no doubt, to obtain another prisoner ; but in this 
they were disappointed : the man went with them, but the 
young toen was detained as a hostage till his return* He 
came back empty-handed, for the savages, whom he had 
found to the number of six men and two women, would not 
sell him any thing. Having thus been cheated by these 
savages, we now detained them all, and despatched six of 
our men, armed with muskets, in their boat to the hut, 
whence they soon returned with all the fish they could find 
in it. We then made some presents to our prisoners, and 
dismissed them. Soon after, an old man brought us ninety 
salmons, for which we paid him with copper buttons. 

A few days after this, we entered upon our new habita- 
tion ; it was a square hut, with sentry-boxes at the angles. 
Soon after, we were again visited by the young toen, our 
neighbor : we asked him to sell us some fish, but receiving 



THEY SEIZE THE FISH BELONGING TO THE NATIVES. 371 

a rude answer, we put him under arrest, declaring that he 
should not be released till he had furnished us with our 
winter store, viz., four hundred salmons, and four bladders 
of caviare. He immediately despatched his companions, who 
returned to him twice in the course of the week, holding 
secret conferences with him. At last he asked us for a pas- 
sage for his boats, which being granted, we soon saw thirteen 
boats, containing about seventy people of both sexes, going 
down the river : these people soon returned to us with the 
articles required. We also obtained of them a boat, suffi- 
ciently large to carry six persons. We then dismissed the 
young man, after presenting him with a spoiled musket and 
a few clothes. 

We frequently sent our boat up the river, and wherever 
we found any fish in the huts, seized upon them as lawful 
prizes. One day, when our boat was absent on one of these 
excursions, we had occasion to stop several boats full of 
savages, who were rowing in the same direction. As soon 
as our boat returned, we allowed them to proceed ; they de- 
clined, however, saying that as our boat had taken away 
their fish, they had no further business. I endeavored to 
make them understand, that, having been driven to this spot 
by their cruelty, we had no other resource for the preserva- 
tion of our lives, than seizing upon their stores. I assured 
them, however, that we would content ourselves with what 
we could find up the river, if they would leave us unmo- 
lested for the winter ; nor would we ever, in such case, send 
our boat downwards. This diplomatic point having been 
agreed to, we remained undisturbed during the whole winter, 
and in possession of abundance of food. 

Being informed that the savages were gathering in large 
numbers at the mouth of the river, and preparing to obstruct 
our progress along the coast in every possible manner, it was 
resolved to build another boat, with which we might, in the 
ensuing spring, ascend the river as high as possible, and 
then, turning towards the south, endeavor to reach the river 
Columbia, about which the natives are less barbarous. The 
task was difficult, but it was executed ; and we only waited for 
mild weather to enter upon our hazardous expedition, when 
an event occurred which frustrated the whole of our plan. 

Mr. Bulugin resumed his command ; and having embarked 



372 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

in our boats, we left our barrack on the 8th of February, 
1809, and sailed down the river. We stopped at the same 
spot where, the year before, Mrs. Bulugin had been pro- 
duced to us. We now clearly perceived the object of our 
captain ; but so great was our compassion for his sufferings, 
that we silently resigned ourselves to the dangers to which 
he was about to expose us. 

Here we were visited by an old man, who presented us 
with an isKkat (a water-tight basket made of branches) full 
of a species of root of which mariners brew a kind of acid 
liquor. He showed himself very attentive, and offered to 
pilot us down the river, the navigation of which was rather 
intricate, on account of the many trees that were floating in 
it: we accepted his offer, and he acquitted himself honor- 
ably. Having reached a small island, he ordered us to come 
to, and he went on shore. He returned soon after, inform- 
ing us that there were many people on the island, who 
would shoot at us if we attempted to pass; he offered, 
therefore, to take us through a narrow channel, where we 
should be safe. We had nothing left but to trust to his 
honor, and we were not disappointed. We reached the 
mouth of the river in safety, and landed on a spot opposite 
an Indian village. Here our guide, whose name was Ljut- 
Ijuljuk, left us, after we had presented him with a shirt, a 
neckcloth, and a tin medal, cast for the occasion, and which 
we requested him to wear suspended about his neck. 

Next morning, we w^ere visited by a great many natives ; 
and among them we recognized the woman who had de- 
ceived us, and drawn Mrs. B. and her companions into cap- 
tivity. We immediately seized her, together with a young 
man, and, having fastened logs of wood to their feet, we 
declared that they should remain our prisoners till our peo- 
ple were restored to us. Soon after, the woman's husband 
made his appearance, and assured us that they were not 
among them, having been allotted to another tribe ; but that 
he would go in search of them, and bring them to us in four 
days, if we would only promise not to kill his wife in the 
interval. 

We now intrenched ourselves on a neighboring hill ; and 
about a week after, a number of savages appeared on the 
opposite shore of the river, ^expressing a wish to enter into 



THE SINGULAR CONDUCT OF MRS. BULUGIN. 373 

treaty with us. I immediately went down to the water's 
edge, attended by several of our people. An elderly man, 
dressed in the European style, appeared as the leader of the 
opposite party, amongst whom was Mrs. B. She immedi- 
ately told us that our female prisoner was the sister of this 
chief; that they were both kind people, to whom she owed 
the greatest obligations, and demanded that we would in- 
stantly set her at liberty. On our telling her, however, that 
her husband would not liberate her, unless she herself were 
first restored to him, she replied, to our horror and conster- 
nation, that she was very well contented to stay where she 
was; at the same time advising us to deliver ourselves also 
to her present protectors. Their chief, she said, was a can- 
did and honorable man, well known on this coast, who 
would, without the least doubt, liberate, and send us on 
board two vessels, now lying in the Bay of St. Juan de 
Fuca. As to the other prisoners, she said they were dis- 
persed among the tribes in the vicinity. 

I tried for some time to persuade her to a different deter- 
mination ; but finding her immovable in her resolution, I 
returned, and reported her answer to her husband. The 
poor man thought at first that I was joking, and would not 
believe me ; but, after a little consideration, he fell into a 
complete fury, took up a musket, and swore he would shoot 
her. But he had not gone many steps when he relented ; 
he stopped, and, bursting into tears, begged me to go by my- 
self, and try again to bring her to reason, and even to threaten 
that he would shoot her. I went and did as he bade me, 
but the woman resolutely replied, " As to death, I fear it 
not ; I will rather die than wander with you again through 
the forests, where we may fall at last into the hands of some 
cruel tribe, whilst now I live among kind and humane peo- 
ple : tell my husband that I despise his threats." 

This cruel answer almost deprived the unfortunate and 
doting husband of his senses : he leaned against a tree and 
wept bitterly. In the mean time, I reflected upon his wife's 
words, and ultimately determined to follow her advice. I 
communicated my resolution to my companions, who at first 
unanimously declared against it ; but on Mr. B.'s declaring 
that he would follow my example, they begged to be allowed 
to consider till the next morning. 
32 



374 A SHIPWRECKED CREW ON THE N. W. COAST. 

The morning came, and the savages appeared again, re-' 
newing their demand for the restoration of the captives. 
This was immediately agreed to, and at the same time Mr. 
Bulugin, myself, and three others of our party, surrendered 
ourselves to their discretion. The remainder of our com- 
rades, however, obstinately refused to follow : having taken, 
therefore, a hearty farewell of each other, we departed with 
the tribe to which we now belonged. 

The next day we reached the village of the Koonishtshati, 
(a tribe in the vicinity of Cape Flattery,) where my host, 
the above-named chief, YootramaM, had his winter resi- 
dence. Mr. B. went to the master of his wife, whilst the 
three others fell into various hands. 

The remainder of our companions attempted to reach the 
Island of Destruction, but foundered upon a rock, and after 
losing all their gunpowder, had some difficulty in escaping 
with their lives. They tried, therefore, to overtake us ; but 
being intercepted by another tribe, they were all taken pris- 
oners and dispersed along the coast. 

At the end of about a month, my master returned to his 
village near Cape Flattery, taking with him myself and Mr. 
B., whom he had purchased from his master, with a promise 
of purchasing his wife also. We lived for some time very 
comfortably ; but afterwards our situation frequently changed ; 
the savages sometimes selling, sometimes giving us to one 
another. The fate of poor Mr. and Mrs. B., who had be- 
come reconciled to each other, was truly cruel ; sometimes 
they were united together, sometimes they were separated, 
and in constant fear of being so forever. At last death 
kindly released them; the lady died in August, 1809, and 
in February of the following year, her disconsolate husband 
followed her, but not to the grave, for his wife had been at 
her death in the hands of such a barbarian, that he would 
not allow her a burial, but had her exposed in the forest. 

In the mean time, I passed the greater part of my cap- 
tivity with the good Yootramaki, who treated me like a 
friend. These people are like children, and pleased with 
every trifle : I found, therefore, no difficulty in ingratiating 
myself with them ; and the construction of a paper kite and 
a watchman's rattle, spread my reputation, as well as that 
of the Russian nation in general, far among them. At last 



AN AMERICAN CAPTAIN RANSOMS THEM. 375 

their veneration for my abilities was carried so far, that, in 
one of the general assemblies of the toens, it was resolved 
that they would henceforward consider me as one of their 
equals ; after which I always enjoyed the same honors as 
my master, or any other chief. They often wondered how 
Bulugin, who could neither shoot birds flying nor use the 
hatchet, could have been our chief. 

During the ensuing winter, so great a dearth of provisions 
ensued, that one beaver was paid for ten salmons. With 
some chiefs the want was so great, that three of our country- 
men took refuge with me, and my master was kind enough 
to support them till the next spring, when they were de- 
manded back by their owners, and I had influence enough 
to insure them immunity for their flight. 

In the month of March, we again removed to our summer 
village, where I built for myself a hut with embrasures for 
defence, and of so novel a construction, that the chiefs came 
from great distances in order to see and admire it. In the 
mean time, however, God had heard our prayers, and pro- 
vided for our deliverance. On the 6th of May, an Ameri- 
can brig, the Lydia, Captain Brown, visited this coast. I 
went on board, and found one of our companions, whom 
the captain had released near the River Columbia. This 
honest tar immediately offered to ransom the whole of us. 
The savages, who thought this a good opportunity for ob- 
taining large quantities of European goods, made such exor- 
bitant demands, that Captain Brown, to cut the matter short, 
took one of their chiefs into custody, and declared that he 
would detain him till all the Russians were delivered up 
to him for a moderate price, for which several of us had 
already been ransomed. This proceeding had the desired 
eflfect ; in less than two days, he liberated thirteen of us. 
Seven had died during our captivity ; one had been sold to 
a distant nation, among whom he remained ; and one was 
ransomed in 1809, by another American vessel, near the 
River Columbia. 

On the 10th of May, our vessel weighed anchor, and after 
touching at several points of the coast, for the purpose of 
barter, we were safely landed, on the 9th of June, at New 
Archangelsk. 



THE SUFFERINGS 

OF 

FOUR NEGROES WHO ESCAPED FROM 
THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS, 

IN THE 

INDIAN OCEAN, 

AND 

WERE PICKED UP IN THE MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL 5 
October, 1823. 



N 1823, as H. B. M. ship Barracouta, Captaia 
Boeteler, was running for the eastern coast of 
Africa, the following distressed fugitives were 
picked up in the Mozambique Channel. 

'' We passed through the Comoro Islands with 
a strong wind ; and on the 22d of October, when 
about eighty miles from the land of Africa, with 
almost a calm prevailing, we observed, in the 
early part of the afternoon, a distant white speck 
on the water, apparently slowly approaching. It 
was supposed to be a large bird of the albatross 
species, magnified beyond its natural size by re- 
fraction ; and it was only just before a breeze 
sprung up, that it was discovered to be a boat. 
We arrested our course instantly, feeling confident that 
nothing so small would be out so far from the land from 
any other cause than necessity. 

"• As she approached, we perceived her to be a large 
canoe, with a sail, formed by a small piece of blue dungaree 
and an old cotton sheet. In her sat four black men, hag- 
gard and emaciated in their appearance, while a fifth lay 
stretched at full length under the seats, apparently In a 




ONE OP THE SLAVES DIES. 377 

dying state. They lowered their sail, and seemed to hesi- 
tate whether or not they should venture on board ; upon 
which we endeavored to remove their fears, by friendly mo- 
tions to advance, and by means of one of our seamen, who 
spoke a little Arabic. We imagined, of course, that they 
belonged to the coast, but, by venturing too far out, had been 
blown off. To our astonishment, they replied in French, 
inquiring, in a most anxious manner, if we were of that 
nation ; and on receiving an answer to the contrary, they 
uttered a cry of joy, and paddled alongside as fast as their 
little remaining strength would allow. 

" Upon coming on board, it was evident that 

* Famine, despair, cold, thirst, and heat, 
Had done their work on them by turns.* 

* Water ! water! for God's sake, give us water! ' they fran- 
tically exclaimed, as they feebly staggered on board. It was 
measured out in small quantities, mixed with wine, and 
given to them at intervals, accompanied with small portions 
of soft food. 

" The poor negro who was lying on the bottom of the 
boat, as he was humanely lifted on board by the sailors, 
pointed to his frothy lips, as the word water faintly rattled 
in his throat. A small quantity was put to his Hps ; but the 
larger portion came up again, tinctured with blood, the 
swollen and inflamed glands having nearly stopped up the 
windpipe. This intelligent fellow joyfully expressed the 
happiness he felt at escaping from a fate which he before 
considered as inevitable; and as the ship had a skilful sur- 
geon on board, every attempt, which humanity or science 
could dictate, was made to arrest the flight of life, which 
was hovering on his Hps. Yet how short the illusion 1 How 
like the many and transient joys of this life ! Before he had 
been on board an hour, his pulse was gone ; and ere the sun 
had touched the shores of his native Africa, the mountains 
of which were just perceptible in the western horizon, he 
had drank of the bitter cup prepared for all the living; 
having expired from mere debility, sensible to the last, and 
still clinging to the hope of life and liberty. 

"It was some time before the others were sufliciently re- 
32* 



oT8 THE ESCAPE OF FOUR NEGROES. 

covered to make us acquainted with their history. It then 
appeared that they were from the Seychelles Islands, vvherCj 
oppressed by the cruelty of their master, a Frenchman, they 
seized his canoe, and quitted the small island, one of the 
Amirantes, where they had been left without an overseer. 
Not knowing which way to steer, and careless of the port 
they might reach, all places appearing preferable to that 
from which the tyranny of their master had driven them, 
they had taken what articles they conceived might be ser- 
viceable ; and amongst them was fortunately the curious 
sail before mentioned, to w^hich they owed their preserva- 
tion, as the glare of the sun upon the white sheet first 
.attracted our attention, which the dark shade of the boat 
would otherwise never have done. They had a little fish, 
some rice, and about a gallon of w^ater, upon commencing 
their arduous voyage ; but from never having experienced 
the necessity of looking to the future, they improvidently 
consumed their little store in the first kw days, and when 
picked up by us, were in almost the last stage of starvation, 
and certainly could not have survived more than a day 
longer without nourishment. By great care and attention, 
they survived ; but remained in a dreadfully weak and de- 
bilitated state for a considerable time. Seventeen notches 
in the side of their canoe, indicated the many days of mis- 
ery and distress they had passed during this voyage of seven 
hundred and fifty miles — a distance scarcely credible, con- 
sidering the means they had for its performance. 

" Notwithstanding the rigor of the laws at the Seychelles 
Islands, by which an attempt to escape from slavery is re- 
garded as a capital offence, desertions are constantly taking 
place, and to such an extent that, although we afterwards 
visited those islands, we could never ascertain to whom those 
picked up by the Barracouta belonged. It is extraordinary 
that the proprietors of the slaves, now that they are so diffi- 
cult to obtain, should pursue the same line of policy respect- 
ing their moral conduct as when they were both numerous 
and cheap — it not being at all uncommon for twenty men 
to be placed on an island, for its cultivation, with not more 
than two or three women as their companions. 

" I shall not for a long time forget the impatient tosses of: 
the head, and angry looks, displayed by a lady, wheq the 



THE CAUSE OF NEGRO DESERTION. 



379 



subject of slave marriages was canvassed, during a conver- 
sation at the Seychelles. * A negro, a paltry negro ever un- 
derstand or conform to the social tie of wedlock ! No, never, 
never ! ' Yet she was English. It is this privation of female 
society' that disgusts the slaves, and induces them to desert, 
although they are aware that death is the penalty of the 
offence.*^ 




THE EXPLOSION 



STEAMBOAT MOSELLE, 

AT CINCINNATI, ON THE OHIO RIVER; 

CONTAINING 

A minute Detail of that terrible Event, and of the 
tremendous Force of the Steam; April, 1838. 

BY JUDGE JAMES HALL. 




HE recent explosion of the steamboat 
MoseUe, at Cincinnati, affords a most 
awful illustration of the danger of 
steam navigation, when conducted by 
ignorant or careless men, and fully 
sustains the remark, that *' the accidents 
are almost wholly confined to insufficient 
or badly-managed boats." 
The Moselle was a new boat, intended to ply regularly 
between Cincinnati and St. Louis. She had made but two 
or three trips, but had already estabhshed a high reputation 
for speed ; and, as is usual in such cases, those by whom 
she was owned and commanded, became ambitious to have 
her rated as a * crack boat,' and spared no pains to exalt her 
character. The newspapers noticed the quick trips of the 
Moselle, and passengers chose to embark in this boat in 
preference to others. Her captain was an enterprising 
young man, without much experience, bent upon gaining 
for his boat, at all hazards, the distinction of being the fast- 
est upon the river, and not fully aware, perhaps, of the in- 
evitable danger which attended this rash experiment. 

On Wednesday, the 25th of April, between four and 
five o'clock in the afternoon, this shocking catastrophe oc- 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE PASSENGERS. 381 

curred. The boat was crowded with passengers ; and, as 
is usually the case on our western rivers, in regard to vessels 
passing westerly, the largest proportion were emigrants. 
They were mostly deck passengers, many of whom were 
poor Germans, ignorant of any language but their own, and 
the larger portion consisted of families, comprising per- 
sons of all ages. Although not a large boat, there were 
eighty-five passengers in the cabin, which was a much larger 
number than could be comfortably accommodated ; the 
number of deck passengers is not exacdy known, but it is 
estimated at between one hundred and twenty and one 
hundred and fifty, and the officers and crew amounted to 
thirty, making in all about two hundred and sixty souls. 

It was a pleasant afternoon, and the boat, with steam 
raised, delayed at the wharf, to increase the number — 
already too great — of her passengers, who continued to 
crowd in, singly or in companies, all anxious to hurry on- 
wards in the first boat, or eager to take passage in the fast- 
running Moselle. They were of all conditions — the mili- 
tary officer hastening to Florida to take command of his 
regiment — the merchant bound to St. Louis — the youth 
seeking a field on which to commence the career of life — • 
and the indigent emigrant, with his wife and children^ 
already exhausted in purse and spirits, but still pushing on- 
ward to the distant frontier. 

On leaving the wharf, the boat ran up the river about a 
mile, to take in some families and freight, and having touched 
at the shore for that purpose, for a few minutes, was about 
to lay her course down the river. The spot at which she 
thus landed was at a suburb of the city, called Fulton, and 
a number of persons had stopped to witness her departure, 
several of whom remarked, from the peculiar sound of the 
steam, that it had been raised to an unusual height. The 
crowd thus attracted — the high repute of the Moselle — 
and certain vague rumors which began to circulate, that the 
captain had determined, at every risk, to beat another boat 
which had just departed — all these circumstances gave an 
unusual eclat to the departure of this ill-fated vessel. 

The landing completed, the bow of the boat was shoved 
Irom the shore, when an explosion took place, by which the 



382 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 

whole of the forepart of the vessel was literally blown up. 
The passengers were unhappily in the most exposed posi- 
tions — on the deck, and particularly on the forward part, 
sharing the excitement of the spectators on shore, and antici- 
pating the pleasure of darting rapidly past the city in .the 
swift Moselle. The power of the explosion was unprece- 
dented in the history of steam ; its effect was like that of a 
mine of gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, were 
simultaneously burst ; the deck was blown into the air, and 
the human beings who crowded it hurried into instant de- 
struction. Fragments of the boilers, and of human bodies, 
were thrown both to the Kentucky and the Ohio shore : and 
as the boat lay near the latter, some of these helpless vic- 
tims must have been thrown a quarter of a mile. The body 
of Captain Perry, the master, was found, dreadfully mangled, 
on the nearest shore. A man was hurled with such force, 
that his head, with half his body, penetrated the roof of a 
house, distant more than a hundred yards from the boat. 
Of the number who had crowded this beautiful boat, a few 
minutes before, nearly all were hurled into the air, or 
plunged into the water. A few, in the after part of the 
vessel, who were uninjured by the explosion, jumped over* 
board. An eye-witness says that he saw sixty or seventy in 
the water at one time, of whom not a dozen reached the 
shore. 

The news of this awful catastrophe spread rapidly 
through the city ; thousands rushed to the spot, and the 
most benevolent aid was promptly extended to the suffer- 
ers — to such, we should rather say, as were within the reach 
of human assistance — for the majority had perished. 

The writer was among those who hastened to the 
neighborhood of the wreck, and witnessed a scene so sad 
that no language can depict it with fidelity. On the shore 
lay twenty or thirty mangled and still bleeding corpses, while 
others were in the act of being dragged from the wreck or 
the water. There were men carrying away the wounded, 
and others gathering the trunks, and articles of wearing ap- 
parel, that strewed the beach. 

; The survivors of this awful tragedy presented the most 
touching objects of distress. Death had torn asunder the 



THE PAINFUL SITUATION OF RELATIVES. 385 

most tender ties ; but the rupture had been so sudden and 
violent, that as yet none knew certainly who had been taken 
nor who had been spared. Fathers were inquiring for chil- 
dren, children for parents, husbands and wives for each 
other. One man had saved a son, but lost a wife and five 
children. A father, partially deranged, lay with a wounded 
child on one side, a dead daughter on the other, and his 
wife, wounded, at his feet. One gentleman sought his wife 
and children, who were as eagerly seeking him in the same 
crowd — they met, and were reunited. 

A female deck passenger, that had been saved, seemed 
inconsolable for the loss of her relations. To every ques- 
tion put to her, she would exclaim, " O my father ! my 
mother ! my sisters ! " A little boy, about four or five years 
of age, whose head was much bruised, appeared to be re- 
gardless of his wounds, but cried continually for a lost 
father ; while another lad, a little older, was weeping for his 
whole family. 

One venerable-looking man wept a wife and five chil- 
dren ; another was bereft of nine members of his family. 
A touching display of maternal affection was evinced by a 
lady, who, on being brought to the shore, clasped her hands 
and exclaimed, "Thank God, I am safe!" but instantly 
recollecting herself, ejaculated in a voice of piercing agony, 
"Where is my child?" The infant, which had been saved, 
was brought to her, and she fainted at the sight of it. 

A public meeting was called in Cincinnati, at which the 
mayor presided, when the facts of this melancholy occur- 
rence were discussed, and among other resolutions passed, 
was one deprecating " the great and increasing carelessness 
in the navigation of steam vessels," and urging this subject 
upon the consideration of congress. No one denied that 
this sad event, which had filled our city with consternation, 
sympathy, and sorrow, was the result of a reckless and 
criminal inattention to their duty, on the part of those 
having the care of the Moselle; nor did any one attempt to 
palliate their conduct. Committees were appointed to seek 
out the sufferers, and perform the various duties which hu- 
manity dictated. Through the exertions of the gentlemen 
appointed on this occasion, lists were obtained and pub- 
33 



386 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 

lished, showing the names of the passengers as far as could 
be obtained, and giving the following result : — 

Killed 81 

Badly wounded 13 

Missing 55 

Saved 117 

266 

As many strangers entered the boat but a few minutes 
before its departure, whose names were not registered, it is 
probable that the whole number of souls on board was not 
less than two hundred and eighty. Of the missing, many 
dead bodies have since been found, but very few have been 
added to the list of saved. The actual number of lives 
lost, therefore, does not vary much from one hundred and 

fifty- 

The following observations are made in the report of 
the committee, relative to the tremendous force of the 
steam : — 

" Of the immense force exerted in this explosion, there 
is abundant evidence ; still, in this extraordinary occurrence 
in the history of steam, I deem it important to be particular 
in noting the facts, and for that purpose I have made some 
measurements and calculations. The boat was one hun- 
dred and sixteen feet from the water's edge, one hundred 
and ninety-two from the top of the bank, which was forty- 
three feet in perpendicular height above the water. The 
situations of projected bodies ascertained were as follows : — 
Part of the body of a man, thrown nearly horizontally into 
a skiff at the water's edge, one hundred and sixteen feet ; 
the body of the captain, thrown nearly to the top of the 
bank, two hundred feet ; the body of a man, thrown 
through the roof of a house, at the distance of one hun- 
dred and twelve feet, and fifty-nine feet above the water's 
edge ; a portion of the boiler, containing about sixty 
square feet, and weighing about four hundred and fifty 
pounds, thrown one hundred and seventy feet, and about 
two thirds of the way up the bank; a second portion of 



THE GREAT EXPLOSIVE POWER OF THE STEAM. 387 

the boiler, of about thirty-five square feet, and weighing 
about two hundred and forty-five pounds, thrown four hun- 
dred and fifty feet on the hill side, and seventy feet in alti- 
tude ; a third portion of the boiler, twenty-one square feet, 
one hundred and forty-seven pounds, thrown three hundred 
and thirty feet, into a tan-yard ; a fourth portion, of forty- 
eight square feet, and weighing three hundred and thirty- 
six pounds, thrown four hundred and eighty feet, into the 
garret of a back-shop of a tan-yard, having broken down 
the roof and driven out the gable-end. The last portion 
must have been thrown to a very great height, as it had en- 
tered the roof at an angle of at least sixty degrees. A fiftli 
portion, weighing two hundred and thirty-six pounds, went 
obliquely up the river eight hundred feet, and passing over 
the houses, landed on the sidewalk, the bricks of which 
had been broken and driven deeply into the ground by it. 
This portion had encountered some individual in its course, 
as it came stained with blood. Such was the situation of 
the houses that it must have fallen at an angle as high as 
forty-five degrees. It has been stated, that bodies of per- 
sons were projected quite across the river into Kentucky. 
I can find no evidence of the truth of this : on the con- 
trary, Mr. Kerr informs me, that he made inquiries of the 
people on the opposite shore, and ' could not learn that any 
thing was seen to fall farther than half way across the 
river,' which is at that place about sixteen hundred feet 
wide." 




THE UNKNOWN FATE 

OF 

M. DE BLOSSEVILLE, 

OF THE 

FRENCH BRIG-OF-WAR LILLOISE, 



SAILED ON A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN, 
AND NEVER RETURNED ; 

With the Detailed Journals of the Three Voyages, 
undertaken by the French Government, in Search 
of that celebrated but unfortunate Navigator and 
his Comrades ; 1833. 

TRANSLATED EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK. 

THE ORIGINAL NARRATIVES ARE PRESERVED IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE 
FRENCH NAVV. 

HE great and persevering exertion 
made by the French nation to rescue 
M. de Blosseville and his compan- 
ions in the Lilloise, if they survived, 
or to discover traces of them, if they 
had perished, has justly excited the 
sensibihties of the civilized world, 
and is a most honorable trait in the 
French character. 

In the fishing season, the French 
government annually send a vessel of vs^ar to the coast of 
Iceland, to protect the fishermen, and to render assistance 
to those who meet with disasters. In 1833, the officer de- 
spatched on this service was M. de Blosseville, the most 




INSTRUCTIONS OF THE MINISTER OF MARINE. 



389 



zealous, promising, and scientific officer in the French navy. 
He was already possessed of experience, having been on 
voyages of discovery and exploration in the southern hem- 
isphere. 




The French Brig-of-War the Lilloise. 

He was instructed by the minister of marine to avail 
himself of this opportunity to explore a part of the coast 
of Greenland ; and to further the cause of science, by 
making observations, and collecting objects of natural his- 
tory. In pursuance of this object, he sailed from Dunkirk, 
33 * 



390 THE UNKNOWN FATE OF M. DE BL0SSE7ILLE. 

in the brig-of-war Lilloise, in July, provided with an effi- 
cient crew. After reaching Iceland, and remaining a few 
days among the fishing vessels, he proceeded westward to 
the coast of Greenland ; and in exploring those icy seas he 
received some damage in a gale of wind. He returned to 
Vapnafiord, in Iceland, to repair damages ; and sent a re- 
port of his proceedings, up to that time, to the minister of 
marine, which was the last communication ever received 
from this unfortunate officer. The brig was, however, seen 
after this, on the 14th of August, under double-reefed top- 
sails, and her lower sails close-hauled ; and was last seen 
and recoornized on the 25th of August. 

As the Lilloise did not come home in autumn, and no 
intelligence of her having been received, the friends of 
science and humanity became justly alarmed for their 
safety; and in the spring of 1834, the French government 
despatched the brig-of-war Bordelaise to search after the 
missing vessel. The command of this expedition was given 
to Captain J)utaillis, an experienced officer, whose official 
narrative, as given to admiral de Rigny, the minister of 
marine, after his return from the search, we will now 
insert. 



The Journal and Conjectures of Captain Dutaillis, of the 
Brig Bordelaise, during the First Voyage in Search 
of M. de Blosseville, in the Summer of 1834. 

Admiral : — In receiving from your excellency the hon- 
orable mission of searching the dangerous seas of the 
northern regions, for some traces of the* brig Lilloise, con- 
cerning whose fate the cause of science, and the French 
nation, have conceived the greatest alarm, and being fully 
aware of the deep responsibility of conducting such an en- 
terprise, — in order thatl might justify the high confidence 
reposed in me, I soon forgot the natural difficulties which 
attended such an expedition, and looked forward only to the 
result which could still be hoped for. From that moment, 
all my effi^rts have been directed to this end. As I was 



THE CONJECTURES OF CAPTAIN DUTAILLIS. 391 

almost entirely v^ithout previous exact information, which 
might guide my steps, or throw light on my operations, I 
have often been obliged to seek for a rule of conduct in the 
reasonings and suggestions of the moment. The elements 
which were wanting, I have hoped to supply by zeal and 
activity ; and I have the presumption to believe that the 
Bordelaise has exhausted all the means at her disposal to 
obtain what was expected of her investigations. 

The complete obscurity which envelops the fate of M. 
de Blosseville, very naturally conducts the mind to form the 
following conjectures : — 

First, That the Lilloise, anterior to the 4th of August, 
1833, after having met with great damages, and forced to 
harbor a second time in one of the ports north or west of 
Iceland, had been detained there by the ice, or state of the 
vessel. 

Second. Or, having been arrested by the ice on the 
coast of Greenland, the crew would have been able, in the 
most favorable supposition, to gain the land and reach a 
Danish colony, and return by one of those vessels that carry 
on the whale fishery in the west. 

Third. Or, that she had perished at sea by one of those 
unfortunate occurrences so frequent in those parts. 

The first of these conjectures being already strengthened 
by the information furnished at Dunkirk, appearing to be 
founded on the most probable basis, my first endeavors 
will be directed towards the verification of these indications ; 
and afterwards I shall examine what degree of certainty can 
be accorded to the two others. 

Setting out from Dunkirk on the 7th of May, 1834, I 
steered first for Vapnafiord, as my instructions prescribed, 
where I arrived on the 2Qd. I expected to receive at this 
place, which was the last officially-known stopping-place of 
the Lilloise, more complete details concerning her ; but my 
expectations were deceived. The rigors of an arctic winter 
had cut oflT the inhabitants from all communication with the 
northern part of the island ; and nothing relating to this 
vessel had arrived at this station after her departure from it. 
I learnt, a little while after, from a French brig that was lying 
there at the same time, that the Lilloise new planked certain 
parts of her bows, and strengthened them with iron. Of 



392 THE FIRST VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

this there is no question, as, according to the report of M. 
de Blosseville, received in France, it was an injury to the 
bowsprit lashings. Having accomplished my object at Vap- 
nafiord, and being convinced that if the Lilloise had put in, 
it must be in some one of the bays to the north or west, I 
sailed, on the 26th, to attempt the passage of Cape Lauga- 
nas, notwithstanding the warning I had received from the 
presence of ice upon all this coast. But I flattered myself 
that the reports which were made to me had been exagger- 
ated, and that by great precaution I should effect my pro- 
jects. Unluckily, on the 28th, I ascertained to a certainty 
that the ice in fact extended from the N. E, to the W. S. W. 
of the compass, and that all access was become impossible. 
There remained to me but two alternatives ; either to wait 
until the heavy gales had shattered the mass, or sail round 
the island immediately, by passing to the south. As the 
mercury in the barometer indicated a series of fine days, and 
knowincr that it was not uncommon for the navi^^ation of the 
northern coast to be shut up during a whole year, I adopted 
the latter course, as affording the best chance of success, 
and soon had reason to congratulate myself on the reso- 
lution I had taken ; for, in visiting a great number of French 
vessels I met on my route, I received some very valuable 
information from the captains, which all tended to prove to 
me that the Lilloise had been seen after her departure from 
Vapnafiord, beating about with winds from the W. S. W., 
on a N. W. tack. 

The most important and precise of these tidings, was that 
of Captain Deranjo, of the fishing corvette L'Envie. He 
was sailing at that period in company with the vessels which 
I had just spoken, and found himself, on the evening of the 
14th, so near the Lilloise, that, the brig having displayed her 
national colors, he hastened to hoist his own signals. All 
these different vessels were then about three leagues from 
land, at the entrance of Lagunda Fiord, running on the 
starboard tack, with the wind very fresh from the W. S. W. 
The Lilloise had two reefs in her topsails, the lower sails 
close-hauled, and soon abandoned the fishers, who, sailing 
on longer tacks, went before her: the bad weather, more 
than the darkness, soon lost her from their sight. I was, 
therefore, then ready to draw some important conclusions 



ANCHORS IN LUZ BAY. 393 

from these premises, and of which the substance was, that 
at this period the Lilloise was not directed towards the land 
she had last discovered ; since, with the wind from the 
W. S. W., if she had wished to continue the hydrographic 
survey which she had commenced, she would have returned 
to the point from which she set out, or would have been in 
the route towards Cape Barclay, which she had neither well 
recognized nor clearly determined, and then her course 
would have been at least N. ^ N. E., the variation being 
from 40° to 45° N. W., and the current running to the 
S. W. These indications appeared to me so much the 
more positive, that the captains, interrogated separately, all 
agreed upon the facts, and offered but a very slight differ- 
ence in the period, which varied from the 12th to the 14th, 
according as their memories were more or less faithful. Be- 
lieving thence tliat I should be sure soon to discover the 
places where the Lilloise had touched land, I directed myself 
in all haste towards the west. When stopped by a strong 
wind, I decided to drop anchor at Talkna Fiord or Luz 
Bay. I sought in the bay, but in vain, to procure some in- 
telligence, and not being able to succeed there, concluded, 
since the weather continued so bad, as even to break a 
bower-anchor and chain-cable, while at anchor, to gain the 
more northern bays. 

The 14th of June, I got under way, with two reefs in my 
topsails. I beat about all that and the following day ; but 
having met with great injury to several sails, and* breaking 
another chain, and expecting no amelioration at hand, I de- 
cided to put in at Dyrefiord. I found five French ships in 
this bay ; like myself, the bad weather had driven them 
there, and kept them in grievous inaction ; they had made 
some vain efforts to ascend higher, and the ice, which they 
had perceived in the distance the evening before, obliged 
them to abandon the fishery for the present, as well as all 
attempt on Cape Nord, all access to which was absolutely 
shut out. I learnt conclusively that all communication with 
the shore was cut off in that direction ; and that the navi- 
gation in those parts was, for the time, impracticable. 
" We are placed in circumstances so much the more unfor- 
tunate this year," said the Danish merchant of Dyrefiord to 
me, with whom I had entered into correspondence, " that 



394 THE FIRST VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

after a winter of uncommon rigor, the season is now so far 
advanced, that if it continues so, we shall not be able to 
lay in our provisions for the next winter ; for, independent 
of the ill success of our fisheries, we shall be obliged still to 
give up the hope of raising the few raw products which are 
commonly cultivated." It was, in fact, remarkable, that on 
the 20th of June, the thermometer varied from 4° to 0. 

From this latter bay, I repaired to Scutuls Fiord ; there 
I received positive intelligence as to the position and ex- 
tent of the ice, and with the addition of the information 
by the merchant, as well as by the fortunate return of the 
vessels he had sent out, I came to the certain knowledge 
that the passage by the north was again impossible. After 
having renewed my water, I decided to proceed again 
towards the south, in the hope of falling upon the traces of 
the Lilloise, which had not been seen in this bay, and whose 
presence could not be proved at any point round about. A 
few vague tidings led me to believe that the brig, the object 
of our search, had anchored in the Gulf of Brede Bugt, at 
a period anterior to the 14th of August. This opinion, all 
uncertain as it was, deserved particular attention, since upon 
the fact depended, perhaps, the opinion which ought to be 
formed concerning her future movements. I sailed, there- 
fore, towards this point, when imperious circumstances 
stopped me in crossing Luz Bay. I found there the greater 
part of our vessels, who, in carrying on their fishery, were 
occupied" in repairing the numerous damages they had met 
with during my stay at Scutuls, in consequence of a very 
violent gale from the east. From the indications received 
at the first which I interrogated, I visited the greater part 
of them, in order to learn those who had need of assistance. 
I was happy in being useful to some. After devoting some 
time to these important duties, I thought to avail myself of 
the favorable opportunity which was offered to meet the 
Rose and the Gabrielle. The incomplete reports which 
their captains had made, left me in hopes of obtaining some 
further elucidation. 1 little thought then that it was to be 
the last I should hear concerning the fate of the brig Lilloise. 
I found these two vessels at the distance of ten leagues ; 
the captain of the Rose invalidated what had been pre- 
tended he had been heard to say ; but the captain of the 



THE LILLOISE IS SEEN ACROSS THE SAND CONES. 395 

Gabrielle asserted, in the most formal manner, that he had 
seen and recognized the Lilloise from the 20th to the 25th 
of August, only a league and a half off, across the sand 
cones, between 65° 30^ and 65° 40' north latitude. The 
veracity of this captain — which I cannot call in question, 
since he endeavored to furnish the details of the various ob- 
servations which he had been able to make — led me to con- 
clude that my presumptions had not carried me far from the 
fact ; and from the 4th to the 14th of August, — or it might 
be from the 14th to the 20th, or 25th, — she could be waiting 
for no other, during this advanced stage of the season, than 
the moment for effecting her return to France. That mo- 
ment would be very difficult to determine precisely, for her 
private instructions, which have not been communicated to 
me, perhaps prescribed it ; but it must certainly be very nigh, 
since the bad season always breaks off the navigation of 
the coast of Iceland in the beginning of September. The 
weather, which was very fine for a few days, permitted me, 
by visiting a very great number of vessels, to make an ap- 
proximation towards the true period, or to make a recon- 
cilement amongst the various periods, and to assure me that 
the brig had not cast anchor in the Gulf of Brede Bugt : 
the fogs which succeeded, and soon after the bad weather, 
having forced me to seek an asylum for myself, I again took 
shelter at Dyrefiord. 

We had got at that time to the 12th of July. Strong 
winds, which succeeded each other with extraordinary 
rapidity, forced our fishers to rally round me; and made 
them lose a time so much the more precious, that the 
season Began to advance, and ice continued to occupy alt 
the north. Neither cliance, nor my own researches, as well 
on the difficult points of the coast, as amongst the residents 
and merchants, have led me to the discovery of the place 
where M. de Blosseville had harbored ; the same obscurity 
rests upon what he could have done from the 4th to the 
14th, and from the 14th to the 25th of August. The 
places at which the brig Lilloise could have anchored, are 
so numerous, that a whole year would be necessary to visit 
them all ; and, at least, since she had not been near the 
factors, it would be almost impossible to indicate it with 
precision. The correspondence which I established at all 



396 THE FIRST VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

the places where I have been, and those which I have main- 
tained by the intercourse of the merchants with those of 
other bays, are to me a sure guaranty, that it is not near 
them that the Lilloise had gone to seek a refuge. If she 
had received injuries, — which I put beyond doubt, if she 
found herself in the midst of the ice, — or if the continuance 
of the prevailing wdnds had forced her to seek a harbor, it 
must have been at one of the intermediate ports where com- 
merce is established. If consideration be made for the diffi- 
culties attending an idiom which was unknown to us, and 
entirely foreign to the Danish language ; those which natu- 
rally proceeded from the nature of the country ; and, in fine, 
those which resulted from a peculiarly exclusive season, 
which it was necessary constantly to resist, — the public will 
easily comprehend the perseverance which we have been 
obliged to use, to arrive only at those results we have obtained. 
It has not been in my power to extend my observations be- 
yond the 25th of August. What I can affirm is, that at 
the last-mentioned epoch, — and I have had occasion to con- 
vince myself of it by the inspection of various journals, — the 
gales were so violent, that the greater part of the vessels 
which were not in port, and could not gain a shelter, let 
themselves drive before the wind, under bare poles, and, 
abandoning the fishery before obtaining a full freight, re- 
turned to their several ports of equipment. Despairing of 
gathering new information, and having exhausted all the 
means at my disposal, I decided on returning to the north. 

On the 27th, I anchored at Scutuls, where we learnt that 
the ice had begun to start, and that, on the 25th of July, 
some Iceland boats had doubled Cape Nord, by passing be- 
tween the detached pieces. This circumstance, favorable 
as it was, yet had in the mean while lost its importance, 
since, from what had transpired, it was henceforth useless 
to extend my researches to Greenland. An exploration 
upon that coast became evidently illusory, and what your 
excellency had, without doubt, foreseen, in giving me orders 
first to collect intelligence in Iceland, and in afterwards 
leaving at my option the choice of future operations. The 
most cursory view of the facts which I have exhibited 
above, proves conclusively, to this day, that the Lilloise did 
not return to Greenland ; and that, if she had made that 



CONJECTURES CONCERNING M. DE BLOSSEVILLE. 397 

passage, it must have been a very few days after the 4th of 
August, since the ice was at Cape Nord on the 7th ; and it 
is well known that, as soon as it appears there, all access 
from, it to Greenland is impossible, unless attempted by 
vessels constructed and equipped for arctic navigation. It 
is thus that I explain her appearance on the western coast, 
the 14th of the same month. After this period, how could 
M. de Blosseville have decided to attempt a new voyage, 
when, on the 4th of August, he wrote to your excellency 
'that the season was too far advanced ; and so much so, that 
the ice would hardly start before winter? If that was his 
opinion on the 4th of August, how would he have returned 
there after the 14th ? I do not conclude from this, that he 
could not have gone there between these two periods, but, 
by recalling to mind what has been previously advanced, 
that he had been able to proceed but on one tack for some 
leagues, and that he had immediately returned. Let me be 
permitted to add still some reflections on the preceding. 
On the 14th and the following days, all attempts to go to 
Cape Barclay would have been useless ; since, supposing him 
under the most favorable circumstances, he could have ap- 
proached it but within twenty-four leagues. What, then, 
w^ould it have been some days later, if he wished to reach 
this point, to connect his new observations with the old, or 
whether he wished to proceed more northerly, and run the 
chance of driving along with the ice, when it should put 
itself in motion? But M. de Blosseville had not enough 
provisions to attempt such a voyage ; nor a vessel of suffi- 
cient stoutness to wish to penetrate into those masses, whose 
immovability he had experienced at so great a distance from 
the end which he had promised to attain. Whence it can 
be concluded, laying speculation aside, from the presence 
of the Lilloise among the " sand cones," from the 20th to 
the 25th of August, that she could not have remained in 
the ice, at whatever distance she may be supposed to be 
from Greenland. If it be admitted that these reasons are 
specious, and that, in spite of all the unfavorable circum- 
stances which could induce M. de Blosseville to abandon an 
exploration which could hold out to him and his crew only 
the most fatal termination, if it be supposed that he re- 
turned to Greenland, I then believe that, if he had been 
34 



f.'k I 



398 THE FIRST VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

fortunate enough to save his vessel, or those of the men 
w^ho would have been able to withstand the fatigues and 
long privations, it would have been necessary to look for 
him to the west of Cape Farewell ; besides, vessels from 
various nations touch every year upon these coasts ; and at 
the period of the return of these vessels, they would have 
been able to get to France. These suppositions, each more 
favorable than the other, would be in opposition to numerous 
facts v/hich have come to my knowledge. The Lilloise, in 
the first place, would not have been able to support the least 
shock or pi-essure of the ice. And how, in fact, would she 
have been able to resist, when vessels constructed expressly, 
and having beams of fourteen inches square, have been 
often struck and abandoned ? In admitting, even, that 
a basin formed around her would have p/eserved her from 
all manner of shocks, experience proves that, at the first 
breaking up of the ice, she would have drifted to the most 
southern part of Greenland ; but, in this supposition, pro- 
visions were necessary to pass the winter, and she was 
provided only till the 12th of October. They would then 
have been obliged to abandon the vessel, and seek to 
gain the land ; here would commence difliculties which the 
mind could hardly span. They must struggle with the 
cold, and chmb mountains of ice, of an immense height, 
covered with projections on all sides. If it can be believed 
that all these obstacles were conquered ; that a high and 
steep coast had not stopped them ; that they had been able 
to carry provisions enough to gain those countries inhabited 
by v/andering families ; that they had supplied their necessi- 
ties by means of the chase; — then they would have perhaps 
been able to reach the western colonies, where they would 
have found help and succor of all sorts. But, consoling as 
these suppositions may be, we can no longer abandon our- 
selves to them, without material proofs of the loss or exist- 
ence of the Lilloise ; its future, 1 agree, is covered with a 
veil which the human mind may seek vainly to raise ; but in 
my eyes, nevertheless, the loss of this vessel is incontestable ; 
and if my researches have not enabled me to learn in a pre- 
cise manner the period and the circumstances, they have at 
least led me to think that it could not have been on the 
coast of Greenland that she disappeared. If such had not 



THE BORDELAISE REACHES HOME. 



399 



been my opinion, based upon the most notorious facts, I 
should have regretted not being able to approach these 
coasts this year ; since, till the month of August, every time 
that I have attempted the passage by the north, the ice has 
opposed to me an obstacle which it was not possible for me 
to surmount. As I have already had the honor of saying to 
your excellency, the ice was effectually put in motion to- 
wards the 2Gth of July ; but its removal was but mo- 
mentary ; and its sudden appearance happened again to 
expose three of our vessels, which alone had attempted the 
passage. Two of them still remain engaged there, without 
it being possible for me to get them out again ; and the 
third, the Bien Aimee, Captain Lamestre, is the only one 
that has succeeded in returning by the west. From the 
report of the captain, he had found at Hope Bugt a piece 
of chain cable, a copper kettle, and a piece of wood circled 
with iron ; the whole having come to the shore during the 
year 1833. These different articles appeared to have be- 
longed to a whalino^ vessel. As the wind remained still 
contrary, I took advantage of the first improvement to quit 
Scutuls ; and the 5th of August, made sail for the north. 
The strong east winds and heavy sea soon forced me to 
give it up ; and I steered towards the cape. I drifted to 
the south, and put in at Onundafiord, where some vexa- 
tions had been exercised towards our fishermen, by the 
islanders of the southern part of the bay. I made my stay 
useful in the interests of our vessels ; but the bad season 
coming on more and more, the rain and the snow being almost 
constant, I proceeded towards the south, where our fishers 
were collected to take in their water, and prepare for their 
return. Having attempted ineffectually to obtain the an- 
chorage of Patrix Fiord, the only bay which I had not 
visited in this part, I left the west of Iceland, two days after 
the departure of our vessels, and after a passage of twenty 
days I arrived at Dunkirk. The state of health of the crew 
is very satisfactory. May I be permitted here to make 
a general recapitulation of the voyage which I have just 
ended? 

If I have not been so fortunate as to recover the brig 
Lilloise, I believe I have done, at least, all that it was pos- 
sible for me to do, in the circumstances in which I was 
placed. 



400 THE SECOND VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

For the information of the government, I have sought not 
only to avail myself of the facts, but also the most likely 
suppositions. After having sought traces of her upon the 
coasts of Iceland, I have been able to prove her presence 
till the time when it is believed she would effect her return 
to France. I would have followed her step by step, so to 
speak, upon all the points at which she might have touched, 
if sorrowful convictions, and events independent of my will, 
had not occurred to alter my intentions. Nothing would 
have prevented me from relieving my countrymen, and ac- 
complishing, to its whole extent, the trust which was con- 
fided to me ; but this result was not reserved for me. 



As a report reached France, after the return of Captain 
Dutaillis, that the Lilloise was confined in the ice off the 
coast of Greenland, and was abandoned by M. de Blosse- 
ville and his companions, who had reached one of the Da- 
nish colonies on that inhospitable shore, the French gov- 
ernment determined to continue the search ; and the na- 
tional corvette the Recherche was equipped in the most 
thorough manner, and the command given to M. Tre- 
houart, an officer of great scientific attainments, who was 
directed to proceed to the frozen seas of the arctic regions ; 
and, if possible, to find and rescue his missing countrymen, 
and restore them to the vine-clad hills of their native land. 
We will give his story, as reported to admiral de Rigny. 



A Narrative of the Proceedings of Captain Trehouart, 
of the Corvette Recherche, during the Second Yoy. 
age to discover Traces of M. de Blosseville and his 
Companions, in the Summer of 1835. 

Admiral : — I have the honor of rendering an account 
to your excellency of the fruitless researches which I have 
made upon the western coasts of Iceland, and upon the 
edges of the iceberojs which line the eastern coasts of 



CAPT. TREHOUARt's CORDIAL RECEPTION IN ICELAND. 401 

Greenland, to find there the brig Lilloise, commanded by 
the scientific and gallant M. de Blosseville. 

Setting out from Cherburg the 17th of April, at 7 o'clock 
in the morning, I encountered, from the first night, a gale 
of wind from the east, on which I decided to pass to the 
west of the British isles. The 7th of May, I discovered the 
southern coast of Iceland; and the 11th I dropped anchor 
at Reikavik, This passage, made during a series of rough 
weather, afforded me an opportunity of proving the good- 
ness of the crew and the vessel which your excellency had 
been pleased to trust to me. 

The governor of Iceland, M. de Rueger, had been absent 
for some months ; but I was received in the most cordial 
manner by his representative, M. Finsen, chief justice of the 
colony. He took great pains to give me the information 
which I asked of him, concerning the Lilloise. I have had 
the honor of presenting to you, in a former report, the letter 
which he wrote to me on this subject ; you will there per- 
ceive how little hopes there remained to me of learning any 
thing more precise in the Gulf of Brede Bugt. The bishop 
had also the goodness to give me a letter of recommendation 
to the missionary living at Dyre Fiord, who, last year, fur- 
nished some information to Captain Dutaillis. 

I quitted R^eikavik the 18th, and after having passed 
some days among the fishing vessels that I found in great 
numbers under Cape Staalberg, I went to see Direme, to 
obtain the information which he had received. I have had 
the honor of laying before you two notes, the one in Danish, 
the other in Latin, which he sent me. Your excellency will 
have remarked of them that it is not now, as last year, a 
Dutch captain who had seen the Lilloise perish, but, rather, 
that a captain of that nation had heard a sailor of Dunkirk 
say, that this vessel had undoubtedly perished in the Gulf 
of Brede Bugt, or among the ice. I did not stay any longer 
for so vague a document, but directed my course to Onun- 
dafiord, where I obtained from M. Sevenden, a Danish mer- 
chant, a note, which seemed to give me some hopes of dis- 
covering the clew that I was seeking. It was conceived in 
the following terms, and I have the honor of laying before 
your eyes a literal translation. 

" The only report here, brought to this place from Luz 
34* 



402 THE SECOND VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

Bay, which was received there by a Dutch fishing vessel, 
is, that the aforesaid vessel, whilst carrying on its fisheries 
at Cape Nord, in the former part of Septennber, 1833, saw 
the French vessel, concerning which information is asked, 
founder some miles in the offing, without being able, on 
account of the force of the gale, to reach its unfortunate 
crew." 

M. Sevenden not being able to call to mind the name of 
the person from whom he had these tidings, nor the period 
at which he had obtained them, I sailed for Luz Bay, hoping 
to obtain there something more positive ; but my hope was 
deceived. The gizelleman of this bay declared to me, in 
the most direct and formal manner, that no such informa- 
tion of the kind had ever come there ; that he, as chief of 
the bay, visited all the vessels which entered there ; that, 
carrying on commerce with the Dutch, he was acquainted 
with the captains of the few vessels of that nation who visit 
that coast, and that he had never heard them speak of this 
shipwreck. He even wrote to M. Sevenden to defy him to 
name the person of Luz Bay from whom he obtained this 
intelligence. I caused this letter to be carried ; but the lat- 
ter could add nothing to what he had told me before. By 
chance, I fell in at the same time with seven of the Dutch 
vessels, who commonly carry on the fishery at Iceland. I 
visited them, and obtained nothing from them which could 
induce me to believe that this information had any founda- 
tion. They are all from a little port on the Meuse, called 
Vladengen ; and assured me that if one of their comrades 
had come to the knowledge of the fact mentioned, he would 
have eagerly imparted it to them, as well as informed his 
government of it. All these different passages, made during 
dreadful weather, following an extremely severe winter, in 
which it was often necessary to beat about for whole days, 
to obtain favorable anchorage, had brought me to the 16th 
of June. It was the favorable period for visiting the Gulf 
of Brede Bugt ; and also that which I had assigned to M. 
Gaimard, to join us at Grounufiord. In consequence, I 
quitted Onundafiord the 16th, and presented myself the 
20th before Olasvug, where I counted on obtaining some 
information ; but at the moment that, at a little distance 
from the place, I was waiting for a pilot, in order to enter, 



M. GAIMARD IS SENT TO EXPLORE THE GULF. 403 

M. Clausen, a merchant of the place, had the goodness to 
come on board, and, in announcing to me that he knew noth- 
ing of the fate of the Lilloise, persuaded me not to anchor 
in the road, which was not good. I arrived the same even- 
ing at Grounefiord, and obtained nothing at this place more 
satisfactory that at Olasvug, where I afterwards went by 
land. The accounts which I could gather, all agreed with 
those which I had obtained from the gove/nor. They were 
of such a nature as to prove, as well as the latter, in a 
positive manner, the impossibility of the loss of the Lilloise 
in the gulf, without it should have been known ; the small- 
est rocks being frequented in summer by the fishers, and 
also by the boats that collect sea-birds' eggs. The mer- 
chants did not doubt that some remains of her would have 
been found, if this misfortune had happened there. I de- 
sired M. Gaimard, who had joined me, and who was, in 
continuing his voyage, to explore a great part of the shores 
of this gulf, to gather information on this point, and I quitted 
Grounefiord on the 25th, well convinced of the uselessness 
of any longer researches in these parts ; for, if the least 
doubt remained on my mind, I could have easily dispelled 
it, by freighting, at a little expense, a deck boat of the 
country, which I could have equipped with an officer and 
some sailors from the Recherche, and with which I could 
have caused the shoals of the gulf to be visited ; but the 
intelligence which I received was so precise, that I could 
not stop for this measure, which could not lead to any use- 
ful result. 

I steered my course towards Steneuts Fiord, a more 
northern point, inhabited by a merchant. I cast anchor the 
STth ; and having found nothing which could interest me, I 
left there, on the 28th, for Ofa Bugt. I reached this bay on 
the night of the 30th. I again found it closed up with 
pieces of ice, which, some days before, had rendered the 
approach to it impracticable. This bay, formed at the north 
by Cape Nord itself, is precisely that from which, according 
to the report of the merchant of Onundafiord, the Lilloise 
should have been seen to sink. The few inhabitants I 
found there, and who dwell there only during the summer, 
all affirmed to me, under oath, having had- no knowledge of 
the Lilloise, or of her wreck. I assured myself of this in a 



404 THE SECOND VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

slill more positive manner, by examining with the greatest 
care a great quantity of pieces of wood, which the sea con- 
stantly throws up on the shores of this bay. Amongst a 
great number of decayed fragments, and all more or less 
disfigured by the prolonged action of the ice upon them, it 
was impossible for me to discover any thing which could 
have served for the construction of a ship. I do not doubt, 
however, that if the Lilloise had perished at some miles' dis- 
tance, many pieces might have come ashore; and in that case 
I should liave found them there ; for the people do not use 
them for fuel. This last essay demonstrated the impossi- 
bihty of proving the destruction of the Lilloise upon this 
coast. I had availed myself of all the means which might 
help me to form such a conclusion, and it was now well 
proved to me that if this misfortune had happened to her, 
no one had know^n it ; and therefore it was impossible for 
me to establish the certainty of it. In consequence, I 
thought of putting into execution the other part of your 
excellency's instructions, which prescribed to me the explor- 
ing of the icebergs which line the eastern coast of Green- 
land. Before undertaking it, I formed to myself a plan of 
proceedings, based upon the following probabilities : — 

The 29th of July, 1833, M. de Blosseville, after having 
reached the 68th^ 30' latitude, and 28th° longitude, ran in 
at an opening in the ice, and discovered the coast of Green- 
land, and was afterwards forced, by bad weather, to return 
to Vapnafiord, to repair the damage done to her bowsprit. 
The 4th of August, she quitted this bay ; and, in writing to 
your excellency, he announced his intention of returning to 
the point he had left on the 29th, in order to continue his 
discoveries towards the south. Captain Dutaillis and myself 
have obtained the proof of the arrival of the ice upon all 
the coast north of Iceland, on the 5th or 9th of August; 
and also the undoubted presence of the Lilloise the 13th 
and 14th of August, the same year, at anchor off, and a 
little distance from, Onundafiord ; the latter of these facts 
proving to my mind, to a demonstration, that M. de Blosse- 
ville, surprised by the unexpected arrival of the ice, had 
seen the impossibility of accomplishing his project, and even 
considered himself fortunate to double Cape Nord before 
the passage should be entirely impracticable. I had come 



THE DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP. 405 

to the conclusion that if, at a period so advanced as the 
14th of August, he had not given up making discoveries, 
he had been obliged to confine his attempts between the 
most northern point whicli he could attain; that is, to nearly 
the parallel of Cape Norxl, and the most northern lands, 
recently discovered by the lieutenant of the Danish navy, 
Graah. This supposition decided me to extend my. re- 
searches between these two parallels ; and I set out for that 
purpose, from the Bay of Ofa Bugt, the 1st of July, at 2 
o'clock, A. M. I directed my course to the N. N. E., and 
having made six leagues in that direction, I at first met with 
some detached cakes of ice, which I passed ; and soon after 
the solid mass. It extended as far as the eye could reach, 
to the E. S. E., and seemed to join the land some miles 
from Cape Nord ; tlie weather was foggy at intervals, the 
breeze faint, and varying from N. W. to N. I took the 
western tack, and kept along the mass, at a little distance 
off; stopping always when the fog did not permit me to 
see into the interior of the mass distinctly. At 7 o'clock 
in the evening, I found myself at the bottom of a bay, 
where I thought I perceived an open space. The fog not 
permitting me to distinguish clearly, I sailed towards it, to 
make sure. I met at first a great number of detached 
pieces, which were open enough to leave a free passage- to 
the corvette; but they soon became so thick, that it was im- 
possible for me to avoid them all, and to prevent the Re- 
cherche from striking very rudely against one of them. 
In this position, the ship became lifted up more than three 
feet forward ; but the ice giving way under her weight, it 
remained there only a few minutes. From this moment, 1 
was no more master of the movements of the ship ; the 
fragments of ice being so close together, that, for the space 
of half an hour, it was only passing from one to another, 
expending upon each one the little air which it had been 
able to take before reaching it. I was about to make fast 
to a cake of ice, and use the ice anchors, to get out of this 
difficulty, when, a passage opening, I profited by it to get 
clear. In the evening, the wind changing to the east very 
fresh, and the fog growing thick, I was forced to take more 
sea room. 

On the morning of the 2d; the weather having become 



406 THE SECOND VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

clear, I repaired again to the mass, at a little distance from 
the place where I had quitted it the night before. I con- 
tinued to stretch along its edge, always keeping less than 
two miles off, and often passing detached pieces. With 
the exception of a few hours of fog, of contrary winds, or 
of calms, from this moment till the 8th, I was constantly 
favored with fine weather and easterly winds, varying to the 
north, which enabled me to keep along very near to the 
mass. I found it every where compact and solid ; some- 
times clogged with cakes of ice, to the distance of more 
than three miles, and as often clear ; so that it could be fol- 
lowed within a few cables' length. It formed a great num- 
ber of bays, of greater or less extent, whose mouths were 
almost always clogged with enormous cakes of ice. During 
this exploration, which a combination of favorable circum- 
stances enabled me to make with great particularity, I saw 
nothing which seemed to give any evidence of the ship- 
wreck of the Lilloise in these parts. Notwithstanding, from 
the top of the masts, it was almost possible to distinguish 
objects at six leagues in the interior of the mass, I have 
not been able to approach the coast of Greenland within 
sixteen leagues, and although the weather was often favor- 
able, I have never seen it. I regret, also, not having been 
witness of those curious phenomena of refraction, men- 
tioned by several navigators ; as also of those movements of 
ice, producing similar strange effects. I found them with- 
out apparent movement, of a medium height of from five 
to six metres, excepting some mountains in the interior of 
the mass, and which I estimated to have been fifty or sixty 
metres high. 

On the night of the 8th, the weather ceased to be fine ; 
and the wind from the E. S. E. brought up a very thick 
fog. I was obliged to keep a good distance off from the 
mass. During the passage of the 9th, I had another view 
of the mass, in a clear spell, but not sufficiently distinct to 
ascertain its direction. In the evening, the wind became 
very fresh ; and the sea becoming very rough, and the fog 
very thick, I moved still farther off, to avoid the danger of 
being driven before the wind amongst the ice. In this pos- 
ture of affairs, I had attained the object proposed, since I 
had -exceeded, by twenty leagues, the latitude of the lands 



THEY REACH THE ICE ON THE COAST OF GREENLAND. 407 

discovered by Graah ; and, favored by circumstances, I had 
explored the one hundred and thirty-six leagues of ice, 
which join the Cape Nord of Iceland to the point where I 
had arrived, with an exactness which left no room for further 
observation, and made it necessary to decide between two 
plans — that of returning immediately to Iceland, and aban- 
doning all hopes of finding the Lilloise, and that of attempt- 
ing to attain to the Danish establishments situated on the 
south-west coast of Greenland ; where, according to the note 
of the Central Geographical Society, it would be almost im- 
possible to obtain any information. 1 decided on the last 
step, for I had at heart to try all chances, feeble as they 
might be, which might conduct me to the result I had been 
trying after for three months. And although this last step 
was not prescribed in my instructions, I hoped that your ex- 
cellency would approve it on account of my motive in un- 
dertaking it. In taking this determination, I did not lose 
sight of the difficulties which would come in my way. I 
possessed no document on the navigation of these parts, so 
often clogged with ice, and obscured by fogs. I had learnt 
only from an Iceland merchant that Frederickshaail was the 
most difficult point of access, and that, as with some others, 
whole years sometimes passed without being able to ap- 
proach it. The chart I possessed was on so small a scale as 
only to give the positions, without furnishing the minor 
details. It was therefore almost a voyage of discovery, that 
I was about to undertake. I saw not to the end, but was 
determined, though acting with prudence, to stop short of 
nothing but absolute impossibility. 

From the 9th to the 13th, the weather continued to be 
foggy, and the wind had passed to the N. N. E., where it 
had moderated. But the fog, which dissipated only at short 
intervals, permitted me to steer to the west only with the 
greatest caution. The 15th I came in sight of the ice, but 
the fog did not enable me to discover whether it was the 
mass itself, or only some pieces ; and I was obliged to pass 
them. The afternoon of the 14th was rather clear, and at 
an early hour, came in sight of the mass. It seemed to rua 
from the south to north ; I took the latter route to skirt along 
at three miles' distance, to ascertain if there was not a more 
northern passage, which would conduct me to Cape Farewell. 



408 THE SECOND VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

At 5 o'clock, the fog became tlncker tlian ever. At half 
past 6, I stood off to sea ; as I had suddenly had sight of 
the mass ahead, and under the wind, I hove to immediately, 
and found myself at the mouth of a gulf formed by the ice, 
of which the wind, from the south-east at that time, gave 
me no chance of doubling, by any tack, its most advanced 
points. I was obliged, in order to get out of it, to beat 
about on small tacks, fearing at every minute to meet float- 
ing pieces of ice, which a very great darkness, occasioned 
by the addition of a very thick fog to the nightfall, would 
not have permitted me easily to avoid. At 11 o'clock, I 
was out of danger, and stood towards the south, to seek a 
passage there. The 15th was entirely lost. The 16th, from 
the morning, the weather became rather fine. At 7 o'clock, 
I found the extremity of it. It v/as situated 58° 30^ lati- 
tude, and 45° 20' longitude. In the afternoon, the wind 
having changed to the north-west, I was obliged to beat 
about, and came to the conclusion that the mass, at its ex 
tremity, was only ten miles wide. The day, during the 17th, 
was very fine till evening ; I continued to beat about to ob- 
tain the meridian of Frederickshaall, and met some large 
cakes of ice, floating at a great distance at sea. At 5 
o'clock, the fog came on anew ; I estimated my distance at 
more than twenty leagues, and of course still far from the 
mass, which I had not supposed at such a distance ; but at 
6 o'clock, I recognized very large pieces of ice, upon which 
the ship had like to have struck. To tack about was, hap- 
pily, but the affair of a moment. At that time, the light, oc- 
casioned by the refraction of the ice, when it is approached 
very near, discovered the position of the mass, without en- 
abhng me to judge well of its direction. This unexpected 
encounter, at more than twenty leagues from land, and so 
near the place I wished to reach, gave me fears of not being 
able to get there. I continued, nevertheless, to beat about, 
and on the 18th, I had arrived at nineteen leagues to the 
west of the point where I had seen the ice the evening be- 
fore ; having passed by the longitude of Frederickshaall by 
several miles, and made all sail, with a strong breeze and 
fine weather, to attempt .to arrive there before night, when, 
at 1 o'clock, the watch announced the ice ; and soon after- 
wards I found myself at the foot of a mass, composed of 



UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEIVIPT TO REACH FREDERICKSIIAALL. 409 

enormous pieces, whose extent in width and direction from 
east to west, was as far as the eye could reach. The extent 
of the mass would even prevent me from reaching Cape 
Desolation, beyond which I was entirely ignorant, if these 
were my establishments, and beyond which my map did not 
extend. I was to conclude, therefore, that I had arrived on 
one of those occasions, so frequent, in which the ports of 
these coasts are inapproachable ; and I decided, with great 
regret, to abandon an attempt to which I could not attach 
much importance, considered relatively to the object of my 
mission, but which ten days of very difficult and often dan- 
gerous navigation, had made me wish success to. In the 
afternoon of the 18th, I decided to return to Iceland, and 
favored by western winds, I reached Cape Nord the evening 
of the 24th. I there found our fishing vessels in great num- 
bers, none of which had been able to double Cape Dan- 
gerous; and at that time the ice, which I had just met, 
joined the land some miles to the S. E. of Cape Nord ; so 
that again this year, as the last, the communication between 
the east and west, by the north of the island, would have 
been impracticable ; and this was before the end of the good 
season. From the 25th to the 30th, strong westerly winds 
having obliged our vessels to stand across the bay from the N. 
W., I profited by it to proceed to Dyrefiord, to repair some 
damages, and to procure a few days' repose, as well as fresh 
provisions for my crew ; a long use of salt meats, joined to 
the dampness of the atmosphere, having brought on symp- 
toms of scurvy. 

I put out to sea the 15th of August, and remained till 
the 21st amongst the fishers. At this period, their number 
having considerably diminished, 1 repaired to Reikavik, 
where I found M. Gaimard, who had just arrived there. 
This indefatigable naturalist, after having succored, at Rei- 
kavik, the captain of the shipwrecked vessel, the Harmonic, 
visited all the eastern part of the island, and by researches 
in the bottom of the Gulf of Brede Bugt, and on the 
northern shore, had become firm in the conviction that the 
Lilloise had not been wrecked in these parts. He learnt 
that, in May, 1828, an Enghsh whale ship. Captain Hutch- 
inson, was lost to the east of Cape Nord. M. Gaimard, as 
well as myself, are very sure that M. Sevenden, of Onun- 
35 



^^m^^m^^^mm^^' 



410 THE THIRD VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LTLLOISE. 

dafiord, must have confounded this shipwreck with that of 
the Lilloise. 



As Captain Trehouart did not succeed in reaching the 
coast of Greenland, and in communicating with the Danish 
colonies, during this voyage, so as to ascertain whether M. 
de Blosseville and his companions were detained in that in- 
hospitable country by the icy barriers which surrounded it, — 
to ascertain this, and to trace to its origin the report which 
was current, that a French brig-of-war had been seen to go 
down off the coast of Iceland ; and also for the purpose of 
examining the coast near where this vessel was said to have 
foundered, for pieces of wreck, — the French government 
determined to give one more search, and commissioned Cap- 
tain Trehouart, who again embarked in the Recherche, for 
the Arctic Ocean, in the spring of 1836. 

In order to encourage a search generally, they promul- 
gated the following ordinance : — 

First, " That a reward of one hundred thousand francs 
shall be bestowed on the French or foreign navigators who 
may restore the whole or a part of the officers and crew of 
the Lilloise. 

Second. ^' That a reward proportioned to the service 
rendered shall be given to those who may announce the 
first correct intelligence of them, or who may restore to 
France any papers or effects, whatever, which have belonged 
to this expedition." 



A Narrative of the Tliird and Last Voyage, in Search 
of tlie Lilloise, during the Summer of 1836, as 
reported to Admiral de Rigny, by Captain Tre- 
houart. 

Admiral : — I have the honor of informing your excel- 
lency, that after leaving Cherbourg I proceeded north with 
all despatch, and reached the coast of Iceland, where I 
anchored in the harbor of Reikavik ; and soon after we com- 
menced scientific operations. 



THE REPORT OF PIERRE DE GOEDE. 



411 



On the 2d of June, M. Gaimard being provided with 
every necessary which could insure the success of the ex- 
ploration with which he was charged, I left him, and steered 
for the N. W. coast of the island, where I hove to among 
the vessels of the fishery. After remaining some days 
among them, I proceeded to Dyre Fiord, for the purpose 
of completing water. I accidentally found in this bay the 
Dutch galliot William the First, commanded by Jacob Van- 
keulen. This captain had with him last year, as his second, 
the same Pierre de Goede who gave the French captain, 
Frederick, the report which I had the honor to address you 




The Brig'-of-War which was seen lo capsize off Iceland. 

some time after my return, and in which he declared he had 
seen a French brig-of-war capsized on the 28th of August, 
1833, some miles off Cape Staalbierg. Captain Vankeulen 
assured me that Goede had frequently spoken of this wreck, 
and informed me that the vessel in which this sailor was 
embarked in 1833, was commanded by the same Tunus 
Vandeflet; and that his owner was M. Hoguedinck, of 
Wardergen, a little port on the Meuse ; that these two sea- 
men were not at Iceland this year, but in the fishery in the 
north ; and it would be easy, on their return, in the month 
of October, to obtain from them more particulars. 



w^^ 



412 THE THIRD VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

After having again visited the fishing vessels, and received 
the assurance that the presence of the Recherche was not 
immediately necessary among them, I availed myself, on the 
evening of the 14th, of a favoring breeze, and made sail 
for the west coast of Greenland. From some information 
which I had obtained at Cherburg and Reikavik, I learned 
that Frederickshaal, which 1 had in vain sought for last year, 
was not a port, but simply the residence of two Moravian 
brothers ; and that the first Danish settlement on the coast 
was Julienshaal ; that the approach to this port was almost 
always impracticable, in consequence of the ice ; and to 
attain it, it was necessary to go up to Frederickshaal, and 
afterwards, with the aid of a pilot, to descend along the 
coast, in the strait between it and the ice. This intelHgence, 
together with the hope, which M. de Krieger, governor of 
the island, had given me, of meeting at Frederickshaal the 
Danish captain, Graah, who, of all persons, could give me 
the best information on the mission with which I was charged, 
decided me to steer directly for this place. 

With a favorable wind, I reached the meridian of Cape 
Farewell on tlie 21st; but from that time to the 29th, the 
winds and currents prevented my making much progress. 
On the 30th, being twenty-five leagues oflf Frederickshaal, 
I met with the first ice. I passed all that night, and part 
of the 1st of July, in working between two banks, which 
left a space of about two miles between them. In the after- 
noon, the breeze, which hauled to the northward, enabled 
me to make good progress to the east, along a bank of ice ; 
and to windward were several open spaces. At 8 in the 
evening, my progress was stopped by a bank, extending 
from north to south. After having ascertained from the 
mast-head that there was open water on the other side of it, 
and that the floes were not so fixed that it would be impos- 
sible to find a passage through them, I determined in 
passing this obstacle, and did so in a quarter of an hour, 
without accident. I neared the land afterwards some 
leagues, and found another bank, which I thought it as well 
not to attempt passing through at the commencement of 
night ; and I laid by in the space, free from ice, through 
which I had come. 

At 2 to 3 in the morning, this clear space existed no 



THE SHIP STRIKES AN ICEBERG. 413 

longer ; the ice was so closed together, that the vessel was 
surrounded with it on all sides ; and it was almost impossi- 
ble to prevent it from closing on the vessel. In seeking for 
an open channel, and with this view crossing a bank closed 
well together, the Recherche struck violently against an ice- 
berg ; and although she made no water, I had reason to be- 
lieve that, from the violence of the shock, her hull was dam- 
aged. At 8 in the morning, it being impossible to heave to, 
I made the vessel fast to one of them ; but scarcely had 
the men, who went to fix the graplin, entered the boat, to 
return on board with the end of the hawser, when the ice 
broke, and occasioned the loss of the graplin. This acci- 
dent, v»^hich had nearly cost the lives of several men, obliged 
me to remain under canvass ; and during all this day our 
greatest pains were required to keep the ice clear of the 
vessel. 

Until the evening, in spite of a fresh breeze, the sea 
remained smooth ; but towards 8 o'clock, P. M., we ob- 
served a swell coming from the northward, which shortly 
became very high. From this time, the ice became in mo- 
tion, and set to the south with more or less velocity. I 
judged from the eddies that it was drifting from three to 
four miles per hour. This commotion of the ice rendered 
our position more critical, by increasing the difficulty of 
keeping clear of large bergs, which the great swell that pre- 
vailed rendered very dangerous. 

On the 3d, at noon, the sea became clearer, and there 
only remained outside the vessel a few very large bergs, 
sufficiently scattering to enable us to work between them. 
But to the eastward a great number of bergs remained com- 
pact together, which I did not think fit to encounter; and I 
decided on waiting for a favorable moment to approach the 
land, about six leagues to the north of Frederickshaal. It 
fell calm, and on the next day I despatched an Esquimaux 
fisherman to the director of the establishment, requesting 
him to furnish me with a pilot. In the evening of the 6th, 
after passing through the narrow channels formed by the 
islands at the entrance of that port, the Recherche anchored 
in an excellent roadstead, secure from all danger. 

I received from M. Moller, the director of this establish- 
ment, the most generous assistance. He apprized me that 
35* 



«^^^— ^^^^ 



414 THE THIRD VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

M. Graah was at Goodhaab, a colony about sixty leagues to 
the north. He was entirely unacquainted with the disap- 
pearance of the Lilloise, and had never heard of her. Be- 
ing in frequent communication with other estabhshments, 
and particularly with that of Julienshaal, he assured me 
that, if any news of the Lilloise had been received there, he . 
would have known it. This was confirmed to me, some 
time afterwards, by the arrival of M. Woolf, assistant di- 
rector of Julienshaal, who stated that nothing was known 
of the Lilloise. 

I requested M. Moller, whose experience of eleven years 
on the coast rendered his opinion valuable, to inform me 
frankly what he thought of the possibility that the crew of 
the Lilloise might arrive at a Danish settlement ; and I can- 
not adopt a better mode of communicating to you his opin- 
ion on this subject, than by transmitting a literal translation 
of the letter which M. Moller wrote to M. Krieger, in answer 
to that which I had sent him. 

"M. le Governor: Captain Trehouart has requested me 
to inform you, by letter, the opinion which I entertain 
of the possibility that the crew of the Lilloise may have 
been able to save themselves ; and I have therefore the 
honor to state to you, that although such an event is not 
probable, it is not at all impossible that some of the crew 
of this brig may be so fortunate as to reach the eastern 
coast of Greenland on the ice ; more particularly, if they 
had light boats, provisions, and clothing, to protect them 
against the cold, during many days' exposure on the ice. 

" Should any in this manner be so fortunate as to gain 
the land, it will not be impossible that, under favorable cir- 
cumstances, they may have passed along the coast to Fred- 
erickshaal ; and there is no doubt that in this passage they 
would find many inhabitants of the eastern coast from whom 
they would derive assistance to continue their route. In 
this case, I have had the honor of informing the captain 
that there is no doubt, if the crew are so fortunate as to 
reach Julienshaal, they will be treated by the Danish servants 
in the best manner the circumstances of the place will ad- 
mit ; and that an account of them will be sent to the royal 
mercantile office of Greenland, at Copenhagen, and thence 
to the French legation." 



THE RECHERCHE LEAVES GREENLAND FOR ICELAND. 415 

On my arrival at Frederickshaal, I wrote to Messrs. Graah 
and Hollebiel ; the one director, and the other inspector, of 
Greenland. I communicated to them the object of my 
mission, and begged them to inform me their opinion of the 
hopes which we yet entertained of one day finding our lost 
countrymen. I could have their answer in twelve days, and 
I resolved to wait for it; but on the 19th, having learnt that 
these gentlemen had quitted Goodhaab, and were making a 
tour in the north, which rendered it impossible they could 
receive my letters till the end of August, I determined to 
commence my return to Iceland, and I requested M. Moller 
to send me their answers by the first opportunity. 

The last season was exceedingly severe on this coast. 
The vessel destined for Frederickhaal was blocked up there 
by the ice, from the month of July, and forced to pass the 
winter ; that of Julienshaal, after being detained at Fred- 
erickhaal for fifteen days, for the opening of the ice, finished 
by being lost before she reached her destination. I availed 
myself, by the stay of the Recherche at Frederickhaal, to 
examine her bottom. M. de Cotenson, lieutenant de frigate, 
in spite of the temperature being at zero, dived down several 
times, and informed me that the stern was much injured, six 
feet below the line of flotation ; that a piece more than two 
feet long had been broken off by the ice, and that it ex- 
tended down to the rabbit of the keel, leaving the ends of 
the planks exposed. It being impossible to repair an injury 
so severe, in a port destitute of all the necessary means, I 
contented myself with covering it with a greased tarpaulin, 
trusting that the vessel, which had not hitherto proved leaky, 
might continue so. 

On the 21st, I quitted Frederickhaal, leaving M. Moller 
the number of the Annales Maritimes containing a copy of 
the order which ofTers a reward to any one who shall return 
to France all or part of the crew of the Lilloise. After 
being occupied two days in passing the drift-ice, which 
happily I found but little closed, I steered for Iceland, and 
arrived at Dyre-Fiord on the 7th of August. I passed some 
days in that bay, and then proceeded to the fishermen, 
where I remained until their departure home. 

On the 20th, finding the brig alone on the western coast, 
I steered for Reikavik, where I remained till the 3d of 



416 THE THIRD VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THE LILLOISE. 

September. Detained by easterly winds at the entrance of 
the east channel, it was not till the 27th that I reached 
Cherburg. 



As all hopes of rescuing the Lilloise had now vanished, 
the name of that unfortunate vessel was formally erased 
from the list of the French navy. It is probable that a 
great degree of obscurity will ever envelop her fate ; but 
the most probable conjecture is, that the vessel which was 
seen to go down off Iceland was her. A report was some 
time prevalent, that a stone had been found on the coast of 
Greenland, on which was a rudely-carved inscription, pur- 
porting to have been done by some of her unfortunate com- 
pany ; but this, and many other rumors which reached 
France, could never be authenticated. 



A VIVID DESCRIPTION 

OF THE 

BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON, 

DURING 

A WINTER'S NIGHT, . 

ON THE 

WATERS OF LONG ISLAND SOUND; 
January, 1840. 




T 4 o'clock in the afternoon of 
Monday, the 13th of January, 
1840, the steamer Lexington left 
the pier in New York for Ston- 
ington, in Connecticut. After 
threading the intricate channels 
of the East River, and passing 
the eddying dangers of Hurl 
Gate, under the guidance of that 
skilful pilot, Captain Manchester, 
she reached the open sound before nightfall, and pursued 
her solitary way towards her destined haven. The weather 
was mild for the season, but the few vessels which were in 
sight betokened a wintry navigation ; and the monotony 
of the scene was only relieved by the flocks of sea fowl, 
affrighted from the bosom of the deep by the splashing of 
the paddles. The brant would take its lengthened flight ; but 
the black duck, on sudden wing, just skimmed the surface 
of the waves, for a short distance, as its funereal plumage 
glistened in the setting sun ; while, high in air, the ever- 
restless gull careered on well-poised wing, or shot suddenly 
athwart the zenith. 



418 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON. 

As the twilight deepened, the starry concave began to 
sparkle ; and on the verge of the horizon, 

" The lighthouse fire blazed 
Like a star in the midst of the ocean." 

The evening repast being prepared, the company sat down 
to the weil-furnished board of Captain Child, whose generous 
hospitality and urbane demeanor made them forget for the 
time that they were at a strange table. After supper, some 
passed the time in social converse; many, who were fatigued, 
prepared to retire to their berths ; others sat apart, musing 
fondly upon the anticipated scenes of home, w^hich rose more 
vividly before the mind's eye the nearer they approached it. 
And the fond mother endeavored to lull her tender children 
to repose, from whose weary but restless eyelids sleep was 
debarred by the novelty of their situation. 

But amidst this fancied security, the cry of "J\Ve" re- 
sounded throughout the fatal bark. That fearful cry, which 
blanched the cheek of the female, and quailed the heart of 
the timid, nerved the breast of the brave and resolute. A 
simultaneous rush was made for the deck ; upon reaching 
which, the fire was discovered near the smoke-pipe, and be- 
gan rapidly to extend aft, increasing in height and volume 
every moment, fanned, as it was, by the great current of air 
generated by the rapid motion of the boat. The greatest 
consternation now prevailed ; all was confusion ; no system- 
atic course of action could be adopted : it was attempted 
to rig the fire-engine, but in vain. And the engineer was 
driven from his station by the flames which encircled the 
steam-engine, and to stop it was impossible ; on it went, 
clanging their death march, with fearful revolutions. The 
pilot endeavored to head her for the land ; but the wheel- 
ropes gave way, and he was driven from his station almost 
suffocated, and she was left to plough the waters at random. 
Nothing could be done ; on rushed the boat, amid the shrieks 
of the sufferers, the crackling of the fire, and the roaring of 
the winds. And as the bags of cotton became enveloped 
in the flames, they would burst with an explosive force, fill- 
ing the atmosphere with the burning flakes, and descending 
in showers upon the bosom of the dark waters ; which, for 



THE AWFUL SITUATION OF THE COMPANY. 419 

a great distance to leeward, appeared an undulating plain of 
fire. The sea was red, the heavens were red, and the glow 
reddened with the rest the pallid brows of that doomed and 
flame-encircled company. 

A rush was now made for the quarter-boats, and they 
were instantly filled, as they were hanging on the davits, by 
the bewildered passengers. But in lowering them, owing 
to the quick motion of the boat, they filled, and were rap- 
idly left behind ; the loud shriek of despair, which rose from 
these drowning wretches, was, for a moment, louder than 
the roaring of the winds and flames. The life-boat was 
now resorted to; and to tear the covering oflf, and launch 
it, was but the work of a moment. But, being forward of 
the wheel, it was drawn under, and torn away from those 
who held the warp. The fire had now cut ofl* all com- 
munication between the bow and stern of the boat ; on 
board of which were congregated the pious and the learned, 
the mechanic, the mariner, and the merchant, the rich and 
the poor. There were those just returning from years of 
wandering in foreign climes, and had sailed on other seas, 
when the blast of the hurricane put on its greatest fury ; 
others who had been on board of ships destroyed by fire 
and shipwreck ; one who was at Conception, in South 
America, during the great earthquake of 1835, when, in 
the short space of six minutes, that city was laid in ruins, — 
where the stunning noise of falling houses, the horrible 
cracking of the earth, the stifling heat, the blinding, smoth- 
ering clouds of dust, all dwindled before the present terrific 
scene, with all the horrors of its swift-approaching and in- 
evitable result. 

" The horrors of that night, passed by us in the happy un- 
consciousness of sleep, what tongue can tell, what pencil can 
paint, what heart can conceive ? — men, women, and children, 
hemmed in between the fierce wintry wave and the fiercer 
flames, — drinking drop by drop the bitterness of death, — 
hopeless, inevitable destruction yawning before them, — the 
strength of the strong, the courage of the brave, the presence 
of mind of the collected, alike unavailing. What thoughts 
of anguish unutterable must have wrung the hearts of those 
devoted victims'. — thoughts of the loved ones they had left, 
or were hastening to join. What vivid pictures of home 



420 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON. 

must have risen up before the mind's eye, to deepen the 
gloom and horror of the real scene around them. The im- 
agination recoils from these sad images, and we forbear to 
fill up the outlines of so terrific a picture." 

As all hopes of being saved by the boats were now cut 
off, the most desperate exertions were made by those on the 
forecastle to keep back the fire, in hopes that some vessel 
might come to their rescue. Every thing which could hold 
water was eagerly seized upon ; and the boxes containing 
specie were broken open, the dollars poured out and trodden 
under foot as worthless, whilst the boxes were used to throw 
water on the devouring flames. Thus, inch by inch, they 
were driven forward, fighting the fire, until driven over the 
bows into the icy bosom of a wintry sea. The survivors on 
the forecastle, at this period, were calm and collected, and^ 
making every exertion to save their lives, by throwing the 
baggage crates overboard, and making a raft of tne flag-staff 
and planks. 

At 1 2 o'clock. Captain Manchester left, telling them that 
every thing which man could do had been done. We thus 
have intelligence from the forecastle four hours later than 
from the quarter-deck ; as what took place there, after 8 
o'clock in the evening, is only known to Him who received 
their dying aspirations in that fearful hour of their dissolu- 
tion. As they must have seen at once the utter impossibility 
of all human exertions to reach any earthly strand, it is 
probable that they soon began to prepare for landing on the 
distant shores of eternity. But as we should be out of our 
depth in sounding upon this subject, we will leave the coast 
clear for the opinions of those great and good men who are 
so profoundly acquainted with the philosophy of the human 
mind, and of its secret workings in such fearful emergencies. 
Dr. Channing, in touching upon this subject, while speaking 
of his friend, Dr. Follen, says — 

" It was not the physical pain which I shuddered at, when 
I first heard of that night of horrors. It was the mental 
agony of those who, in a moment of health and security, 
were roused to see distinctly the abyss opening before them, 
to see God's awful ministers of fire and sea commissioned 
to sunder at once every hold on life, and to carry them so 
unwarned into the unknown world. Even this agony, how- 



RELIGIOUS REFLECTIONS. 421 

ever, in the first moment of our grief and horror, was per- 
haps exaggerated. 

"' When my mind, composed by time, now goes back to 
that flame-encircled boat, I search for one among the crowd, 
who was singularly dear to me, the close and faithful friend 
of many years ; and as he rises to my mind, I see no terror 
on his countenance. I see him with collected mind and 
quick eye looking round him for means of escape, using 
every energy of a fearless spirit, thoughtful, too, of others as 
well as himself, and desisting from no efforts of love and 
prudence till the power of effort failed. I see, indeed, one 
agony ; it was the thought that the dear countenances of wife, 
and child, and beloved friend, were to be seen no more on 
earth. I see another, perhaps deeper agony ; it was the 
thought of the woe which his loss was to inflict on hearts 
dearer to him than life. But even at that hour his love was 
not all agony ; for it had always lived in union with faith. 
He had loved spiritually; he had reverenced in his friends 
an infinite, undying nature; he had cherished in them prin- 
ciples and hopes stronger than death. I cannot doubt that, 
in that fearful hour, he committed them and himself with 
filial trust to the all-merciful Father. I cannot doubt that 
death was disarmed of its worst terrors — that the spirit passed 
away in breathings of unutterable love and immortal hope. 
Thus died one of that seemingly forlorn, desolate, forsaken 
company ; I hope thus others died. But one such example 
mingles with the terrors and ao^onies of that night so much 
that is heavenly, soothing, cheering, that I can look at the 
scene without overwhelming gloom, and without one doubt 
of the perfect goodness of God." 

The Rev. Mr. Lathrop, in speaking of their situation at this 
time, says — " They had nothing to do but to wait, to suffer, 
and to die. If ever any situation required manhood, fortitude, 
and the power of religious faith, it must have been this. Let 
us trust, brethren, that these were not wanting. Let us trust 
that those brief hours were not all hours of pain, of grief, 
of unmitigated anguish. Let us hope that while glad mem- 
ories of the past thronged thick and fast upon their minds, 
and burning thoughts of home, of wife, of husband, of chil- 
dren, and kindred, no more to be seen on earth, tore with 
anguish their hearts, there also came in upon their souls, 
36 



422 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON. 

sweet and holy in its influences, that faith, mightier than any- 
human affection, stronger than any mortal peril, which lifts 
the spirit to God, and gives it peace in death." 

One scene, which took place on that quarter-deck, as cir- 
cumstantially told, is truly affecting, and shows the powerful 
and sacred feelings of maternity, even in such an appalling 
situation. A little boy, the son of Mrs. Bates, was picked 
up on the shore ; and upon removing the frozen sea-weed 
with which his lifeless form was entangled, a lady's green 
veil was found carefully tied round his. face, to protect it 
from the scorching cinders and suffocating smoke. Heaven 
lifted high its everlasting portals to admit such a noble spirit 
and her kindred offspring. 

The unfortunate boat kept floating on ; and for hours the 
blaze was seen shooting up from her in columns, lighting the 
whole Sound, and then dying away in darkness. Thus the 
evening wore on, and midnight still found her cindery hulk 
just oscillating on the surface. At this time, a few well- 
directed thrusts of an oar through the charred sides, would 
have sent her rapidly to the bottom. Under her counter and 
guards, a few wretched beings, scorched, maimed, and cov- 
ered with soot, still clung instinctively to life. From the drift 
of the Lexington, and the place where last seen, she must 
have been drifted directly for the light boat, on the Middle 
Ground, and could not have been more than two or three 
miles from it when last discovered by her blaze, showing her 
solitary and sable pipes standing as monuments over some 
mighty moving catacomb of death. 

About 3 o'clock, as one of the survivors, who was float- 
ing on a bale of cotton, and had drifted to a great distance, 
bent his eager gaze to where the curve of the horizon was 
broken by the view of the burning boat, which was now 
fast decreasing in vividness, suddenly the curve which was 
cut off became connected, and in vain his strained eye 
sought the unfortunate Lexington ; nothing obstructed the 
view of sky and ocean ; she had gone down, and the pale 
moon alone shed her silvery effulgence on the wave. After 
a few moments, no shrieks, no shouts from her were longer 
heard ; the bitterness of death was passed ; all was tranquil 
as the grave. 

It is painful to contemplate, that out of one hundred and 



THE SUFFERINGS Oi" MR. CROWLEY. 423 

fifty human beings, who saw the sun set from that deck, but 
four should live to see it rise ; the rest having passed off 
like the meteor at night, never to be seen again. Spring 
v/ith its verdure, summer with its flowers, and autumn with 
its golden fruits, have come and passed ; but their lifeless 
forms are not recovered, for they are supulchred among 
the wild and wandering waters — those who expected to 
sleep in the tombs of their ancestors, under the willows of 
their native churchyard, or among the flowery avenues of 
Mount Auburn, where the marble obelisk stands embowered 
amid the deep and waving foliage, as the ever-varying tints 
of sunlight and shadow chase over its polished surface. But, 
far removed from scenes like those, here they repose among 
the coral groves of the ocean, enveloped in the long sea- 
grass for a winding-sheet. 

A few of their bones, after being thrown upon the shore 
and bleached by the sea fogs, may glitter among the sands • 
but by far the greater number of these unfortunates, together 
with the ponderous machinery, metallic substances, earthen 
and glass utensils, have become embedded in the sediment 
at the bottom ; where these bones and substances, being 
removed from the mechanical action of the waves and the 
corrosion of the sea water, will last for indefinite ages ; and 
when, by the revolution of matter, the bottom of Long Island 
Sound may have become the bed of a fruitful valley, and 
the surface is penetrated for the purposes of agriculture or 
the arts, they may be discovered, to adorn the cabinets of 
the geologists and antiquaries of those remote periods. 

We will now leave the Lexington at the bottom, and 
ascend to the surface of that dark and wintry sea, on which 
ten or twelve human beings were left floating on fragments 
of the wreck and bales of cotton. Four only survived ; and 
we will give the story of Mr. Crowley, the second mate, whose 
sufl?erings were the longest protracted. 

When the alarm of fire was given, he proceeded to the 
spot, and there discovered six bales of cotton on fire. He 
immediately handed up to Captain Manchester, who was on 
the promenade deck, three pails of water ; and then, with 
others, continued to draw water and throw it on the fire 
until driven away by the strength of the flames. Before 
leaving the wreck, he saw one of the quarter-boats launched 



I 



424 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON. 

by some of the passengers, and called out to them " to put 
the plug in tlie boat ; " he assisted one of the passengers 
to throw overboard the " hawser tub," and another the 
'' chaffing board ; " he then threw over a '* side plank," and 
jumped on it, but soon afterwards swam to a bale of cotton 
which floated near him. 

The moon set soon after the boat sunk, and he was left 
in darkness ; but he thrashed his benumbed limbs, to keep 
them from freezing. When the dawning light of Tuesday 
morning had silvered the surface of the Sound, he minutely 
scanned every point of the horizon, in hopes of receiving 
succor from some passing vessel ; but in vain ; no sail ap- 
peared in sight until the middle of the forenoon, when a 
sloop was seen to leave the Long Island shore ; and, after 
nearing tiie place where the I^exington was last seen, 
twice she rounded to, and at each time picked up a man. 
He endeavored, by waving his waistcoat, to attract their at- 
tention, but in vain. She sailed back to the shore with the 
rescued, leaving him to suffer on the waves. But, with true 
fortitude, he never lost his presence of mind, or his hope 
of escape ; and noted the different points of land, which 
he knew, as he floated past them. When the night of 
Tuesday came on, he thought himself near Falkland Island, 
and expected to drift ashore there ; but finding himself ex- 
hausted, he, miraculous to state, composed himself on his 
bale of cotton, went to sleep, and slept soundly until morn- 
ing. Much revived by his sleep, he continued through the 
following day to make every exertion his situation permit- 
ted to reach the land, which, however, he did not do until 
9 o'clock at night. 

After the bale grounded, he crawled several rods, through 
the loose ice, to the dry beach. His passage was obstructed 
by a high bank. He with difficulty climbed to the summit, 
and having become completely exhausted, he was on the 
point of sinking down, when he saw a light. Hope now gave 
him new life, and mustering all his strength, he pushed for- 
ward, and upon reaching it, he found that it lit up the hos- 
pitable hearth of Mr. Huntingdon. And the family circle 
were at that moment listening to the particulars of the loss 
of the Lexington, which the son, who had just arrived from 
was telling. His unexpected appearance in the 



CAPT. hillard's statement. 425 

little family circle, pale and wretched, with his waistcoat 
wound round his head, naturally created a sensation ; but 
he had scarce time to tell that he was one who had escaped 
from the scene of death, ere he received all the care and 
attention his situation required. His feet were badly frost- 
bitten ; but in a few days he was able to leave for New 
York. 

Captain Chester Hillard, a passenger, gives the following 
statement : — 

'' I went on board of the Lexington at 3 o'clock, P. M. 
The greatest proportion of the freight consisted of cotton, 
which was stowed under the promenade deck. Between 
the wheel-house and engine, there was sufficient space for a 
person to pass ; and there was a tier of cotton bales, stowed 
in the passage, on the side next to the wheel-house. I went 
into the forecastle, over which were three or four baggage 
cars. The life-boat was on the starboard side of the prom- 
enade deck, forward of the wheel-house, covered with can- 
vass. I took no notice of her until I saw persons endeavor- 
ing to clear her away. We took supper about 6 o'clock ; 
there were two tables set, rather more than half the length 
of the cabin : they were filled, and some of the passengers 
had to wait for the second table. The boat was going at 
the rate of twelve or fourteen knots per hour. 

" As I was on the point of turning in, about an hour after 
supper, and had taken my coat and boots off, I heard 
the alarm of fire. I did not at the time apprehend any 
thing serious, but, quickly dressing myself, and taking my 
overcoat under my arm, went on deck, and discovered the 
casing of the smoke-pipe, and a part of the promenade deck, 
on fire. There was a great rush of the passengers, and 
much confusion ; the after part of the casing was burning, 
and the fire was making aft. 

" I saw nothing of the commander, but from what I could 
hear of the crew forward, I supposed they Avere at work, 
trying to rig the fire-engine. I saw no buckets used, and 
think they were not made use of, and think that the fire- 
engine was not got to work. I shortly after went on the 
promenade deck ; but my attention had previously been 
directed to the passengers, who were rushing into the quar- 
ter-boats ; and when I went on the quarter-deck, they were 
36* 



mmmm 



4^6 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON. 

both filled. They seemed to be determined to destroy 
themselves, as well as the boats, which were their only 
means of safety. I went to the starboard boat, which they 
were lowering away; they lowered it until she took the 
water, and then some one cut away the forward tackle-fall, 
when the boat instantly filled with water, there being some 
twenty persons in her at the time ; the boat passed immedi- 
ately astern, entirely clear. I then went to the other side ; 
this boat was cleared away and lowered in the same manner, 
full of passengers. She fell astern like the other, and was 
disengaged before she had entirely filled. 

''By this time the fire had so increased, that I pretty 
much made up my mind tliat ' it ivas a gone case/ and thought 
that the best thing that could be done was to run the boat 
ashore ; and for this purpose went to the wheel-house after 
Captain Child. He was there, and upon advising him to 
run ashore, he replied that she was already headed for the 
land. The fire by this time began to come up around the 
promenade deck ; and the wheel-house was completely filled 
with smoke. There were two or three on the promenade 
deck, near the wheel-house, and their attention was turned 
to the life-boat. I was apprehensive that the promenade 
deck would fall through, but assisted to strip off the can- 
vass and clear away the boat ; but did not intend going in 
her, as I had made up my mind that, if they got her down 
on the main deck, they would serve her as they had done 
the others. I now found it was time to leave the prome- 
nade deck, as the fire was bursting up through it. Upon 
going aft, down on the main deck, found them at work with 
the hose, but whether by the aid of the engine, or not, I can- 
not say ; and I did not know, at the time, that there was a 
force pump on board. 

" The smoke now became so dense, that I could not see 
distinctly what they were about. And I think that the com- 
munication with the forepart of the vessel was now cut off. 
Up to this time, from the first hearing of the alarm, perhaps 
twenty minutes had elapsed ; and the engine had stopped. 
I recommended to the few passengers and deck hands who 
remained, to throw the cotton overboard: after we had done it, 
I told them they must do something for themselves, and the 
best thing they could do was to take to the cotton. There 



CAPT. HILLARD DRIFTS AWAY FROM THE BOAT. 427 

were ten or twelve bales thrown overboard ; which was 
nearly all that remained on the larboard side, which had not 
taken fire, I cut off four or five fathoms of line, and with 
it spanned a bale of cotton, which, I believe, was the last 
one not on fire ; it vv^as a very snug, square bale, about four 
feet long, three wide, and a foot and a half thick. Aided 
by one of the firemen, I put the bale upon the rail, round 
which we took a turn, clipped it down below the guard, 
when we both got on to it. The boat lay broadside to the 
wind, and we were under the lee of the boat on the larboard 
side. We placed ourselves one on each end of the bale, 
facing each other ; and the bale floated about one third out 
of the water. The wind was pretty fresh, and we drifted 
at the rate of a mile and a half per hour. We did not lash 
ourselves on, but coiled up the rope and laid it on the bale. 
My companion did not like the idea of leaving the boat im- 
mediately, but wished to hold on to the guards. I deter- 
mined to get out of the way, being convinced that to remain 
there much longer, would become pretty hot quarters. We 
accordingly shoved the bale round the stern, and, the mo- 
ment we reached it, were drifted from the boat. This was 
just 8 o'clock by my watch, which I looked at. 

" As we left the wreck, I picked up a piece of board, and 
used it as a paddle, or rudder, with which to keep the bale 
end to the sea. 

" At the time Vv^e left the boat, there were but few per- 
sons remaining on board. I saw one lady. The ladies' 
cabin was then all on fire. The reason why I noticed the 
lady was, that her child had got overboard, and was then 
about two rods from her. We passed by the child so near, 
that I could put my hand on it as it lay on its back. The 
lady saw us approaching the child, and cried out for us to 
save it. We then drifted away from the boat, and it was 
pretty rough. I had as much as I could do to manage my 
bale of cotton ; we were sitting astride of the bale, with our 
feet in the water. I was wet up to the middle, from the 
water which at times washed over the bale. We were in 
sight of the boat all the time, till she went down, about a 
mile off. When we left the wreck, it was cloudy; but about 
9 o'clock, it cleared off, and we had a fine night of it until 
the moon went down. I looked at my watch as often as 



428 THE BURNING OF THE STEAIVIBOAT LEXINGTON. 

every half hour, through the night ; the boat went down at 
3 o'clock. It was so cold as to make it necessary for me to 
exert myself to keep warm ; which I did by whipping my 
hands and arms around my body. About 4 o'clock, the bale 
capsized with us ; a heavy sea came and carried the bale 
over end-ways ; my companion was at this time with me, 
and we managed to get to the bale on its opposite side. We 
at this time lost our piece of board ; afterwards the bale was 
unmanageable. My companion had complained a good deal 
of the cold from our first setting out. His name was Cox, a 
fireman. On our first starting from the boat, I gave him my 
vest, as he had on his chest only a flannel shirt. He had on 
pantaloons, boots, and cap. 

" Cox remained on the bale after it had upset about two 
hours, until daylight. For the last half hour he was speech- 
less, and lost the power of his limbs, as he did not try to 
hold on. I rubbed him, and beat his flesh, to keep up the 
circulation. But the bale coming broadside to the sea, it 
gave a lurch, and Cox slipped oflf, and I saw him no more. 
He went down without a struggle. I then got into the mid- 
dle of the bale, to make it ride easy, and tlxen got my feet 
on it, and so remained until the sloop picked me up. The 
sea had by this time become quite smooth. On seeing the 
sloop, I waved my hat, to attract the attention of those on 
board. I was not frozen in any part. 

''The name of the sloop was the ^Merchant/ Captain 
Meeker, of Southport, who are entitled to a great deal of 
credit, as they did more on the occasion than any one else. 
They tried, during the night, to get out to the aid of those 
on board the Lexington ; but in coming out, she grounded 
on the bar, and they were compelled, before they could get 
her off*, to lighten her. 

" It was 1 1 o'clock when I was picked up. The sloop 
had, previous to reaching me, spoken the light boat, to ascer- 
tain the direction of the fire. On board, I had every possi- 
ble attention shown me ; they took me into the cabin, and 
then cruised in search of others. They picked up two other 
living men. Captain Manchester and Mr. Charles E. Smith." 

Her excellent pilot. Captain Manchester, gives the follow- 
ing narration : — 

" About half past 7 o'clock, some one came to the wheel- 



THE LIFE-BOAT IS LAUNCHED. 429 

house door, and told me the boat was on fire. On looking 
aft, I saw the upper deck burning all round the smoke-pipe, 
blazing up two or three feet ; the flame appeared to be in a 
thin sheet all around the smoke-pipe, coming up through the 
promenade deck. I then returned into the wheel-house, and 
put the wheel hard a~port, to steer for the Long Island shore, 
about four miles distant. But before she headed for the 
shore, Captain Child came and took hold of the spoke of 
the wheel, and something gave way, which I believe was the 
tiller rope. The smoke now came into the wheel-house so 
thick, that Captain Child was obliged to go out ; and I fol- 
lowed him. I then called to them on the forecastle to get 
out the fire-engine and buckets : the engine was got out, 
but they could not get at the buckets; or, at least, I only 
saw a few. I now went to the life-boat, and found some 
persons taking the tarpaulin off it. I caught hold of the 
lashing of the boat, and requested them not to let her go 
until we got a line fastened to her. The fire was then burn- 
ing through the promenade deck. I cut the lashing, and told 
them to launch the boat. I jumped down on the forward 
deck, took hold of the hawser, and found it was not fastened 
to the steamboat. I told them to hold on to the rope, but 
they all let go one after another ; the engine was still going, 
and I was obliged to let it go myself also. We then found 
two buckets, and commenced throwing water with them 
and the specie boxes ; whilst doing this, some others took 
the flag-stafTs, and parts of the bulwarks, and made a raft, to 
which we made a line fast, and hove it over the side of the 
boat ; we then threw the baggage overboard from four bag- 
gage cars, and made them fast with a line ; the engine was 
now stopped ; we threw out every thing by which we thought 
any person could save themselves, and threw on water, in 
hopes that some person might come to our relief. 

" The main deck now fell in as far as the capstan ; the 
people had by this time got overboard, some of them 
drowned, and others hurrying on to the baggage cars, the 
raft, and other things. What was left of the main deck 
was now on fire ; and got us cornered up, in so small a 
space, that we could do nothing more by throwing water. 
There were then only eight or ten persons astern, on the 
steamboat, and about thirty on the forecastle. They asked 



430 THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON-. 

me what they should do, and I told them there was no 
chance for any of us ; that if we staid there we should be 
burned to death, and if we went overboard we should proba- 
bly perish. 

" I then took a piece of spun-yarn and made it fast to my 
coat, and also to the rail, and so eased myself down upon 
the raft. There were two or three others on it already, and 
my weight sunk it. I held on to the rope until it came up 
again ; and when it did, I sprang up and caught a piece of 
railing, which was in the water, and from thence got on a 
bale of cotton, where there was a man sitting ; found the 
bale was made fast to the railing, took out my knife and cut 
it off, I saw a man standing on the piece of railing ; he 
asked me if there was room for another. I made no an- 
swer, and he jumped and knocked off the man that was 
with me, and I hauled him on again. I caught a piece of 
board, which was floating past me, and shoved the bale 
clean off from the raft, and used the board to endeavor to 
get in shore at Crane Neck Point, but I could not succeed. 
When I left the wreck, I looked at my watch ; it was 1 2 
o'clock. The man on the bale with me said his name was 
M'Kenny, and lived at New York ; he died about 3 o'clock. 
When I hauled him on the bale, I encouraged him, and told 
him to thrash his hands. My hands now became so frozen 
that I could not use them at all. The last thing I recollect 
was seeing the sloop, and I raised my handkerchief, hoping 
they would see me. I was then sitting on the cotton, with 
my feet in the water. The cotton never rolled at all, 
although there were some heavy seas. The man who was 
on the bale spoke of his wife and children ; that he had 
kissed them the morning he left home, that he was never 
before through the Sound. I was taken off the cotton by 
Captain Meeker, and carried to Southport, where I received 
every possible attention." 

The following is a list of the Lexington's company, as 
near as could be ascertained : — 

New YorJc, — H. C. Craig; Charles Bracket; Mr. Fow- 
ler; R. W. Dow; Mr. Bullard ; Charles S. Noyes; Albert 
E. Harding ; Mrs. Russel Jarvis, and two children ; Mr. 
Stuyvesant; Stephen Waterbury ; E. B. Patten; Patrick 
M'Kenna ; Thomas James ; Wm. Cowen ; Mr. Lawrence ; 



, - THE NAMES OF THE PASSENGERS. 431 

Charles Boswell ; Richard Pierpont ; Mr. Phipps ; Mr. 
Carey ; William H, Townsend ; two children, (names not 
given ;) four colored persons. 

Boston. — Isaac Davis; John Brown; Charles W. Wool- 
sey ; Abraham Howard ; Adolphus Harnden, superintend- 
ent of Harnden's Express, (he had in charge $'18,000 in 
specie, and f 20,000 in bills;) Mr. White; Mr. Everett; 
Captain John G. Low ; Henry J. Fiini ; Charles Eberle ; 
J. A. Leach ; Nathaniel Hobart ; H. C. Bradford; Benja- 
min D. Holmes; William Dexter; T. H. M. Lyon; Otis 
Eldridge. 

Providence. — John L. Winslow, and his son John 
Winslow, (were carrying home the corpse of his son H. 
A. Winslow, in company of the widow ;) Captain Benjamin 
F. Foster ; William A. Greene ; Elias Brown, jun. ; William 
JVichols. 

Stonington. — ■ Captain C. Hillard, (saved ;) Mr. Van 
Cott; Charles H. Phelps; Mrs. Mary Russell, (she had 
been married the day before.) 

John Corey, of Foxborougji, Mass. J. P. Felt, jun., of 
Salem, do. Captain J. D. Carver, of Plymouth, do. Al- 
phonso Mason, of Gloucester, do. Robert Blake, of Wren- 
tham, do. Richard Picket, of Neivburyport, do. Captain 
Theophilus Smith, of Dartmouth, do. Charles Lee, of 
Barre, do. John Lemist, of Roxhury, do. Jonathan Lin- 
field, of Stoughton, do. Philo Upson, of Egremont, do. 
James Walker and John Gordon, of Camhridgeport, do. 
Captain Smith, of Dedham, do. Miss Sophia T. Wheeler, 
of Greenfield, do. Samuel Henry, o( Manchester, England. 
Rev. Dr. Follen, of Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Pierce, of Port- 
land. Royal T. Church, of Baliiinore. Wm. H. Hoyt, 
mail contractor, Mr. Weston, and John W. Kerle, of Balti- 
more. James G. Brown, of New Orleans. Mr. Walker, of 
Baltimore. N. F. Dyer, of Pittsburg. Captain MattisoQ 
and Robert Williams, of Cold Spring, N. Y. David 
M'Farlane and Wm. H. Wilson, of Williamsburg, L. L 
James Ray, Kennebunk, Maine. Mrs. Lydia Bates, her 
daughter, Lydia C. Bates, and son, James C. Bates, wife 
and children of James Bates, of New Jersey. Mr. Daven- 
port, of Middletown, Conn. George O. Swan, of Columbus^ 
Ohio. Mr. John Martin and Gilbert Martin, father and 



432 



THE BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT LEXINGTON, 



n.A^-ft'*' 



son, lately from England. 
Wm. Price, of Portland. 



David Greene, of Philadelphia 
G. B. Smith, of Brooldi/n, L. I. 
Mr. Bosworth, of Royalton, Vt. Mr. Peck, of Southington, 
Connecticut. 

The officers and crew of the hoat ivere George Child, cap- 
tain; Jesse Comstock, cleric ; Edwin Thurber, first mate; 
David Crowley, secojid do., (saved ;) Stephen Manchester, 
2)ilot, (saved;) Cortland Hempstead, chief engineer ; Wil- 
liam Quimby, second do. The crew, firemen, and waiters, 
numbered thirti/. Of these, Mr. Charles E, Smith, a fire- 
man, alone was saved. 




LBAg'OB 






.bS'^'^Y O"^ CONGRESS 



021 648 913 5 



